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RHYTHM AND VARIATION: WEAVING AS AN OPERATIVE FORM OF MEDITATION AND EMBODIED THOUGHT
| by Eleonora Giglione | In textile work, repetition is often interpreted as automatism: a sequence of gestures without deviation. Yet, on closer inspection, weaving challenges this reading. The thread does not simply pass back and forth; each gesture introduces a minimal variation, a difference that accumulates over time and reshapes the whole. Repetition does not eliminate complexity, it produces it.
SAN DIEGO’S VISIONS MUSEUM OF TEXTILE ART ACQUIRES CORONA DE PLUMAS BY DEBORAH KRUGER
The Visions Museum of Textile Art (VMOTA) in San Diego has announced the acquisition of Corona de Plumas by Deborah Kruger into its Permanent Collection, reaffirming the museum’s commitment to advancing some of the most compelling contemporary practices in fiber and textile art.
THE TEXTILE AS A LIVING ARCHIVE
| by Eleonora Giglione | When addressing the preservation of textiles, a common prejudice emerges: that fabric, being biodegradable, cannot endure like “durable” materials such as marble or bronze. This view stems from a factual observation: most ancient textiles have not survived because organisms, light, humidity, and oxidation degrade them more rapidly than stone. Yet material history shows that, under favorable conditions, textile artifacts can survive for millennia and provide analytical evidence comparable to that of a sarcophagus or a relief.
IN FOBELLO, COMMUNITY AND ART ARE WOVEN TOGETHER: PAOLA ANZICHÉ’S ARTIST RESIDENCY COMES TO A CLOSE
A village square transformed into a giant loom, dozens of hands at work, and a single large textile created collectively. This was how Paola Anziché’s artist residency concluded on 27 June 2026 in Fobello, a small mountain village in Valsesia, Italy, with Maglia in Comune (Knitting Together), a participatory project that brought together residents, visitors, and tourists to create a life-sized circular knitted structure.
| By Barbara Pavan | Within the international landscape of contemporary textile practices, the International Triennial of Textile Arts in Szombathely has established itself as a leading reference point. Hosted by the Szombathely Gallery (Szombathelyi Képtár) and organized in collaboration with the Savaria Museum and the Cultural Foundation for Textile Arts, the event represents one of the longest-running and most authoritative platforms dedicated to textile research in Central and Eastern Europe. As such, it offers a privileged perspective on the transformations that have shaped the textile medium from the second half of the twentieth century to the present day.
TEXTILE AND SOUND, BEYOND NOTATION. VIBRATING MATERIALS, LISTENING SURFACES
| by Eleonora Giglione | Not everything that sounds asks to be written, and not everything that is written truly holds a sound. The distance between vibration and sign, long shaped by musical notation, begins here to loosen without needing to be denied. It is enough to shift attention, away from what represents, toward what responds.
FROM THE LAUSANNE BIENNIAL TO THE PRESENT DAY: THE TOMS PAULI FOUNDATION OF LAUSANNE
| by Marina Giordano | “Contemporary textile art has long been classified separately from – and implicitly beneath – painting and sculpture. Major art critics are finally recognizing what artists have always known: that textile materiality, with all its weight, responsiveness, and deep ties to life and mourning, holds an immense capacity to bear witness to the issues of our human condition.” This is how Holland Cotter, art critic for the The New York Times, wrote in a 2014 article significantly cited by Janis Jefferies in the introduction to the remarkable volume De la tapisserie au Fiber Art – Les Biennales de Lausanne 1962–1995, published in 2017 by the Fondation Toms Pauli.
| by MonnaLisa Salvati | I stepped into Zehra Doğan’s world quietly, with the respect and sensitivity I felt were necessary and appropriate when confronting the pain of yet another unjust war, the silenced abuses, and the injustices inflicted upon men, women, and children. You need to arrive emotionally prepared, with a spirit willing to be engaged – and even overwhelmed – by what the artworks evoke.
THE CROATIAN PAVILION BY DUBRAVKA LOŠIĆ AT THE 61ST VENICE BIENNALE
At the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, Croatia is represented by Dubravka Lošić, a Croatian contemporary artist who has been exhibiting regularly in her country and abroad since 1983. Her practice, developed over more than forty years, combines painting, sculpture and installation, transforming traditional and industrial materials — wool, textiles, iron, bronze — into works rich in meaning and emotional tension.
BINTA DIAW: WHERE THE VINES INTERTWINE. RESISTANCES, ALLIANCES, LANDS
| by Eleonora Giglione | At PAV – Parco Arte Vivente in Turin, Binta Diaw presents Where the Vines Intertwine. Resistances, Alliances, Lands (open until March 8, 2026), a project that transforms the exhibition space into an organic, walkable environment. The display unfolds through suspended installations, expanses of soil, and woven structures that alter spatial perception, inviting visitors into an immersive and relational experience. The artist’s research focuses on the intersections of memory, environment, and politics, adopting a diasporic and decolonial perspective that challenges Eurocentric narrative frameworks.
The main hall of the historical site of Carvico, market leader in the production of warp-knit performance fabrics and symbol of an industrial model based on quality, welfare and beauty, has been turned into the shrine hosting Net Positive, a site-specific installation made by Federica Patera & Andrea Sbra Perego.
CHIHARU SHIOTA AND THE ECHO OF THRESHOLDS
| By Eleonora Giglione | Till June 28th 2026, the MAO in Turin will host The Soul Trembles by Chiharu Shiota, a retrospective that transcends the notion of a simple exhibition to become a vast, pulsating organism of memory, pain, hope, and rebirth. Curated by Mami Kataoka, a leading figure in the field of contemporary art, and Davide Quadrio, with curatorial assistance from Anna Musini and Francesca Filisetti, the exhibition transforms the museum’s spaces into an emotional limbo, a path through suspended presences and invisible narratives. Taken as a whole, the exhibition does not merely recount Chiharu Shiota’s career but invites visitors to cross an inner threshold.Shiota, born in Osaka…
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UN TEMPO ALTRO (A DIFFERENT TIME). AESTHETICS OF SLOWNESS
AT THE “STELVIO SBARDELLA” PUBLIC LIBRARY IN VALTOPINA, PINHOLE PHOTOGRAPHY AND EMBROIDERY ART EXPLORE THE VALUE OF SLOW TIME VALTOPINA (Perugia, Italy) – In an age dominated by speed, the immediacy of images, and the constant stimulation of the gaze, the international project Un tempo altro. Estetica della lentezza (A Different Time. Aesthetics of Slowness),…
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SOPERCHI ORNAMENTI
SOPERCHI ORNAMENTI: THE INTERNATIONAL CONTEMPORARY FIBER ART BIENNIAL BRINGS TO THE COUNCIL CHAMBER OF VALTOPINA A REFLECTION ON WOMEN’S HEADWEAR THROUGH THE LENSES OF HISTORY, IDENTITY, AND EMANCIPATION. VALTOPINA (Perugia, Italy) – From 4 to 6 September 2026, the Council Chamber of the Municipality of Valtopina will host Soperchi Ornamenti, an exhibition curated by Barbara…
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3RD INTERNATIONAL BIENNIAL OF CONTEMPORARY FIBER ART. L’AMOR CHE MOVE IL SOLE E L’ALTRE STELLE
With the third edition of the International Biennial of Contemporary Fiber Art, Valtopina is consolidating an exhibition and research project that, in just a few years, has established itself as one of Italy’s most significant initiatives dedicated to the languages of contemporary fiber art. From 4 September to 8 December 2026, the Museo del Ricamo…
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