A catalogue of the exhibition 'Here & Now: contemporary tapestry from Australia, Canada, Japan, Latvia, Norway, UK and USA.' 



In the introductory essay exhibition curator Professor Lesley Millar discusses the history of tapestry weaving and the contemporary context for the works. The 21 artists in the exhibition describe the work they have created for the exhibition and their thinking about tapestry.



'Here & Now' is the first major curated exhibition of contemporary tapestry in England for over 20 years. Showcasing the breadth of international talent and most innovative approaches to the medium, the show challenges the notion of tapestry as a dying craft and marks a point in time for the art form

Millar, Lesley

UCA Research Online

Professor Lesley MillarTapestry: a Narrative for Our TimesTapestry: A Narrative for our Times 2Project DetailsName of Researcher: Professor Lesley MillarName of Output: Tapestry: A Narrative for our TimesUCARO link/s: https://research.uca.ac.uk/view/projects/Tapestry=3A_A_Narrative_for_our_Times.htmlOutput Type: M – Exhibition; curation of exhibition touring to multiple venues, with accompanying catalogue publicationYear and mode  of dissemination:Here & Now, exhibition The National Centre for Craft & Design (NCCD), Sleaford, UK, October 2016-January 2017Midlands Arts Centre (MAC), Birmingham, UK, April-June 2017The Holburne Museum, Bath, UK, June-October 2017Here & Now: Contemporary Tapestry from Australia, Canada, Finland, Japan, Latvia, Norway, UK and USA, book (National Centre for Craft & Design, Sleaford, 2016). ISBN 9781526204547Weaving New Worlds, exhibition William Morris Gallery, London, June-September 2018Digital catalogue available at: https://issuu.com/directdesign/docs/weaving_new_worlds_book_final?e=1363289/62990826Key Words: Tapestry, tradition, contemporary practice, transnationalFunding: Daiwa Anglo Japanese Foundation to NCCD: £3,000Japan Foundation to NCCD: £1,000Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation to NCCD: £3,000Norwegian Arts Council (OCA) to Kristin Saeterdal (participating artist): £1,500Arts Council of Canada to Barbara Heller (participating artist): £2,000Norwegian Embassy in London to UCA: £1,000Tapestry: A Narrative for our Times 3SynopsisTapestry: A Narrative for our Times is a research output by Professor Lesley Millar consisting of two international exhibitions and a catalogue publication. Millar was invited to curate Here & Now and to edit the accompanying book by the National Centre for Craft and Design, Lincolnshire. The exhibition then toured to the Midlands Art Centre (MAC), Birmingham and the Holburne Museum, Bath. Millar was invited to cont-inue the project in curating the related exhibition Weaving New Worlds at the William Morris Gallery in London. The research explored the contemporary relevance of the traditional Gobelins tapestry technique as a carrier of narrative reflecting its time of making.Here & Now was the first UK exhibition of international scope to focus on contemporary tapestry since 1994. Millar brought together works from artists in the UK, Australia, Canada, Japan, Latvia and the USA, evidencing the diversity of approaches within contemporary tapestry. In all its three venues Here & Now  placed the qualities and themes traditionally associated with tapestry (nostalgic depictions of mythical subject matter) in juxtaposition with very contemporary concerns (gritty, urban, politically-engaged works). In the Holburne Museum the exhibition was an opportunity for the museum to display its rare 1930s ‘Arts Tapestry’ by Edward McKnight Kauffer, showing this important work in the museum’s collection to the public for the first time. The second exhibition, Weaving New Worlds, considered narratives of utopia and dystopia, continuing the themes of Here & Now  with particular reference to the venue, the William Morris Gallery.This portfolio of supporting contextual information presents details of the research contexts, aims and methods that led to new insights, evidence of funding, visitor numbers and media coverage, and images of both Here & Now and Weaving New Worlds. It includes a PDF of the Here & Now publication.Here & Now entrance at The National Centre for Craft and Design (Image: Electric Egg courtesy of NCCD)Here & NowPeople looking at the work ofYasuko FujinoTITLE: ‘In the Garden’MATERIALS: silk, metal thread, mohairSIZE: 4.1 ×2.5 metresHere & NowPat TaylorTITLE: ‘6704-13’MATERIALS: Cotton, linen, woolSIZE: 133 × 112 × 2cmTapestry: A Narrative for our Times 7ContextAfter enjoying a high profile in the UK during the second half of the 20th century, tapestry weaving disappeared from view in England (although not in Scotland) in the early years of the 21st century (Hemmings, 2013). However, it continued to be a vibrant force in many other countries, as evidenced by, for instance, the Lodz Triennial or the work of the American Tapestry Alliance. Lesley Millar was invited to curate the two exhibitions that form ‘Tapestry: A Narrative for our Times’, building on her knowledge of contemporary textile art, developed in a range of significant exhibitions and publications including Textural Space (2001), and Cloth and Memory (2013). Here & Now was the first UK exhibition of international scope to focus on contemporary tapestry since 1994. For the Holburne Museum in Bath Here & Now represented the museum’s first exhibition of contemporary textile art. Weaving New Worlds at the William Morris Gallery continued the development of the research started in Here & Now.Millar brought together work from the UK, Australia, Canada, Japan, Latvia and the USA, evidencing the diversity of approaches to narrative within contemporary tapestry. Both exhibitions developed the traditional narrative role of tapestry as a tool for materialising the stories at the forefront of debate, showing how it can be used to depict comtemporary themes. The works displayed tackled issues including the refugee crisis, sexual abuse and exploitation, gender politics and climate change. All were woven using the traditional Gobelins tapestry technique examples of which include 4th or 5th century Coptic tapestries with their bold colours and the early 16th century, highly complex, ‘The Lady and The Unicorn’ series. Here & Now and Weaving New Worlds showed that the tapestry tradition continues with the energetic and vibrantly coloured works of studio artists in the late 20th century. The works in the exhibitions demonstrated that in the digital age there remains a place for material engagement as a balance to imagery. The haptic qualities of tapestry bring the compassion of touch to its stories, with audiences making the connection between object and subject, and viewer and maker responding to the medium because of its provision of a ‘textural space’ for contemplating and understanding the stories told.Here & Now and Weaving New Worlds offered tapestry to new audiences; public interest in the art form was further evidenced by the popularity of Modern Art Oxford’s 2018 exhibition of Norwegian artist  Hannah Ryggen’s tapestries woven during the Second World War, and discussed by Millar in the Here & Now publication. REFERENCESHemmings, J. (2013) Jon Eric Riis Tapestries. At: https://www.jessicahemmings.com/jon-eric-riis-tapestries/#_edn1 (Accessed 20/04/20).Ryggen, H. (2017) Woven Histories. [exhibition] Oxford: Modern Art Oxford. 11/11/2017 – 18/02/2018.Saroka, J. (2011) Tapestry Weaving: design and technique Marlborough: Crowood.Here & NowFOREGROUNDSaori SakaiTITLE: ‘Let’s Pretend’MATERIALS: Nylon, Wool, CottonSIZE: 2.2  x 2.5 metresBACKGROUNDTonje Høydahl SørliTITLE: ‘We Doǹ t Know What the Little Bird Sings!’MATERIALS: Wool, Cotton LinenSIZE: 3 × 0.8 × 0.6 metresHere & NowPhilip SandersonTITLE: ‘Windblown Tree’MATERIALS: Cotton, WoolSIZE: 1.34 × 3.5 metresHere & NowCaron PenneyTITLE: ‘Golden Handshake’MATERIALS: Wool, gold, cotton warpSIZE: 43 × 41cmTapestry: A Narrative for our Times 11Research Aims and Questions Research aims: To explore the breadth of international commitment to contemporary tapestry and the ways in which the narrative heritage of the medium is used to engage with political, aesthetic and personal issues of current discourseTo present tapestry to new audiences in England after a period during which it had not been widely exhibited.Research questions: How to evidence that there is an effective space and place for contemporary woven tapestries to occupy and tell the story of our times?How to re-establish a platform for, and engage new audiences in, contemporary tapestry?How to link traditional tapestry techniques with a contemporary context and current social and political issues?Tapestry: A Narrative for our Times 12Research Methodsand ProcessMillar’s research commenced with a thorough contextual review surveying the current position of, and interest in, tapestry. This survey was global, with particular reference to biennale and triennale events in Australia, Canada, Poland, Lithuania and Japan. The international Cordis Prize for Tapestry held in Edinburgh provided contextual comparison and reference. Discussions with the Director of the Fondation Mary Toms - Pierre Pauli in Lausanne, the organisation that holds the archive from the Lausanne Biennials, provided further historical context.The research analysed the traditional role of woven tapestry, and identified its narrative and textural (haptic) qualities that are still relevant in the present day. Themes were established in discussion with curators at NCCD and the William Morris Gallery. Artists were identified through networking and following the above contextual research. Millar visited and interviewed all the UK, Scandinavian, Eastern European and Japanese artists, while online interviews were conducted with those in Australia, Canada and the USA. Millar was particularly keen to include an emerging group of young tapestry weavers from Japan, whose vibrant work was unknown in the UK.The premise of the project, that tapestries tell the stories of their time, meant that all the selected works had to have an underlying narrative rather than being purely abstract compositions. The tapestries were chosen for their contemporary references to two overarching themes: the rural, referencing tapestry’s nostalgic traditions and mythical subject matter, and the city, which provoked an engagement with more gritty and urban contemporary themes. In Weaving New Worlds, these themes were developed further into ‘Utopia’ and ‘dystopia’, in fitting response to William Morris, who both wove tapestries and, as a writer, explored Utopian ideas. Within these themes the works variously referenced cultural iconography, mythology, personal and global trauma, and pastoral romanticism. Each of the exhibition spaces presented particular challenges and resonances. The gallery at the original project partner, the National Centre for Craft and Design, is a reclaimed industrial space with very few internal walls. Temporary walls were installed which allowed free visual and physical flow between the various themes of the exhibition. This allowed the themes to interact, as no work fitted exclusively under a single thematic heading. Other venues were more restricted in size. The Holburne Museum required a more particular separation of the works with, for instance, a specific focus on the body in one of the gallery spaces. The exhibition space at the William Morris Gallery was small, and this created unexpected and revelatory ‘conversations’ between works by different artists, which had never been seen together previously.Weaving New WorldsMari Meen HalsøyTITLE: ‘Wounds/Beit Beirut/Snipers Room’ detailMATERIALS: Wool, linenSIZE: InstallationWeaving New WorldsMiyuku TatsumiTITLE: ‘Reflections on the other side’MATERIALS: Ramie, silk, cotton SIZE: 2.32 × 1.87 metresTapestry: A Narrative for our Times 15As our lives become more and more dominated by digital technology and the written word has less currency than the image, the possibilities are opened up for a re-encounter with narrative tapestry. The transition from the digital to the haptic brings the compassion of touch, making the connection between object and subject, viewer and maker. The audience response to Tapestry greatly exceeded expectations, as is shown by the extraordinary footfall for the two exhibitions, with over 326,000 visitors. On its final day Weaving New Worlds welcomed 1000 visitors, a record for the William Morris Gallery. The project contained work by artists of international standing, brought together for the first time. Japanese tapestry artists, in particular, are not known in the UK, and so these exhibitions brought their work to light. Since then several of the Japanese tapestry artists curated by Millar have been featured in European exhibitions including: Cordis Prize 2019Garden of Eden Austria 2019Ukrainian Fiber Art Exhibition 2019Lodz Tapestry Triennial 2019International Tapestry Exhibition Galway Ireland 2020IMPACTThis research output underpins the Impact Case Study Innovative Textiles Curation: Enabling Arts Organisations to Deliver Institutional Strategies. As an example of this impact,, the former Head of Exhibitions at NCCD stated that ‘The partnership with Millar enabled NCCD to exhibit the most innovative, challenging and accomplished artists practicing tapestry to demonstrate that woven tapestry has a role in telling the narratives of our time, challenging the notion that woven tapestry is no longer relevant in the digital age.’Research Contribution and ImpactWeaving New WorldsKanae TsutsumiTITLE: ‘Cosmic’MATERIALS: Wool, cotton, ramieSIZE: 2.3 × 1.8 metresTapestry: A Narrative for our Times 17Research Dissemination and RecognitionDissemination: Here & Now attracted 298,000 visitors during its tour of three venues. Weaving New Worlds attracted 28,160 visitors.The book was reprinted 4 times, selling out each time. Copies were sent all over the world, particularly to the USA and Australia, and sales were good in the UK.Follow-on-activities: MEDIAAimee McLaughlin, ‘Here & Now: the exhibition reviving the art of tapestry weaving’, Design Week (5 August 2016) [online] https://www.designweek.co.uk/issues/1-7-august-2016/now-exhibition-reviving-art-tapestry-weaving/Richard Moss, ‘Think you know tapestry? Tapestry Here and Now will make you think again’, Museum Crush (27 June 2017) [online] https://museumcrush.org/think-you-know-tapestry-tapestry-here-and-now-makes-you-think-again/Elizabeth Fullerton, ‘Review: Weaving New Worlds, William Morris Gallery’, Art Fund (31 August 2018) [online] https://www.artfund.org/whats-on/more-to-see-and-do/features/weaving-new-worlds-william-morris-gallery-reviewMaev Kennedy, ‘Bullets and bandages: the artist healing the wounds of Beirut’, The Guardian (June 15 2018) [online] https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/jun/15/beirut-mari-meen-halsoy-william-morris-gallery-weaving-new-worlds PAPERSMillar was invited to deliver keynote presentations at the following events:1st West Dean Tapestry Conference 31.07.2015Cordis Tapestry Prize Conference Edinburgh 16.03.2019 Galway International Tapestry Symposium 23.05.2020Tapestry: A Narrative for our Times 18Research Dissemination and RecognitionFollow-on-activities: PUBLICATIONSMillar was asked to contribute to the following journals:Invited by Selvedge magazine to contribute article about tapestry weaver Sarah Brennan (2016)Invited to contribute the main essay for the American Tapestry Alliance Annual publication (2017)Invited by Selvedge magazine to contribute article about tapestry weaver Mari Meen Halsoy (2018)Weaving New WorldsTonje Hoydahl SorliTITLE: ‘Brittle, Little and The Brutal Truth’MATERIALS: Wool, cotton linenSIZE: InstallationWeaving New WorldsPat TaylorTITLE: ‘Kim’MATERIALS: Linen, lurex, cotton SIZE: 0.3 × 0.65 metresWeaving New WorldsCurator’s tourBarbara HellerTITLE: ‘Regeneration 2’MATERIALS: Linen, handspun and hand-dyed and commercial wools, cottonSIZE: 1.6 × 1.8 metresTapestry: A Narrative for our Times 22University for the Creative ArtsResearch Portfolios© Copyright All AuthorsGraphic Design: Studio MothershipFRONT COVERErin M. RileyTITLE: ‘Self Portrait 1’MATERIALS: Wool and cottonSIZE: 1.8 × 1.2 metresBACK COVERLesley Millar in front ofJoan BaxterTITLE: Halaig 2MATERIALS: Wool, silk and lurexSIZE: 1.96 × 1.88 metres

Here & now: contemporary tapestry from Australia, Canada, Finland, Japan, Latvia, Norway, UK and USA

http://research.uca.ac.uk/4259/40/LMillar%20TNT%20PDF%20on%20UCARO.pdf

Here & now: contemporary tapestry from Australia, Canada, Finland, Japan, Latvia, Norway, UK and USA

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