The International Art Textile Biennale celebrates the vibrant and evolving world of contemporary art textiles.
Opening from the June 17, the biennale seeks to showcase boundary-pushing textile art from a diverse group of international artists.
Diverse perspectives unfold in each piece, challenging inherited canons and questioning concepts such as body and beauty, isolation and community.
The 35 finalists from 11 countries dismantle preconceived notions on what it means to be a textile artist and how this medium can express profound observations.
Artists delve into fabric as architecture, unravelling notions of home and the temporal nature of interior space.
Some pieces serve as diaries of concerns about the escalating impacts of climate warming, while others examine the intrinsic nature of self-reflection, exploring the act of making as a journey of internal struggles and letting go.
Walkway Gallery director Naomi Fallon said she was excited for the upcoming exhibition.
“Textiles have been enjoying a resurgence after decades of being ignored, or being referred to as ‘women’s work’, or ‘not real art’,” she said.
“We’re excited to be working with Fibre Arts Australia to present this exhibition.
“We’ll see some of the best contemporary textiles from artists from around the world in Bordertown.”
Traditional techniques also seamlessly intertwine with innovation.
Seated beside the familiar textiles are a myriad of unconventional companions – rabbit skin, paper-pulp, concrete, flax, old woollen blankets, stringybark, spider egg cases, recycled plastics, foraged vines, recycled electrical copper wire, charcoal, reclaimed ceramics, fluorite, amethyst, business tie linings, doilies, and off-cuts of previous artworks.
International Art Textile Biennale will only be shown in Bordertown from June 17 to 26 July 26.
