In the 16th century, Venice was a major producer of silk luxury textiles. Venetian silks achieved a high reputation in Europe: materials from the Medieval fabric called "sciamito", to damasks and the "diaspro" textiles, quite often embellished with Oriental plants, floral motifs, or exotic animals, contributed to transform the way Venetians expressed themselves in clothing.
Textiles were a very important commodity and became one of the key productions in the Venetian economy until French competition seriously damaged the silk manufacture in the 1700s. Production received a further blow when Napoleon abolished the guild system in 1806 and new technological innovations such as the Jacquard loom arrived on the scene.
As machine-made fabrics became cheaper and therefore less exclusive, the art of weaving luxurious pieces almost disappeared. At the end of the 1800s only Bevilacqua and Trapolin-Rubelli were still continuing their production; Mariano Fortuny's printed production joined them in the 1900s.
To prompt the rediscovery of exclusive and high quality textiles, the Venice Pavilion at the 55th International Venice Art Biennale is dedicated to the art of weaving. The pavilion space is divided in two sections, one showcasing textiles by historical companies and another including projects and works by six international artists created together with major Italian textile companies.
The space dedicated to the textiles showcases fabrics by Bevilacqua, Fortuny and Rubelli accompanied by a series of notebooks that reveal the inspirations behind the artists' works.
Visitors can admire Bevilacqua's "Grottesche", that is soprarizzo silk velvet, hand-woven on an original 18th-19th century Jacquard loom, characterised by a decoration that features the versatile style of the late 1800s reproducing the technique and design of a sample from the 19th century stored in the Bevilacqua Archives; Fortuny's “Caravaggio”, a design in pale blue and bright red introduced in 2010 almost by accident (during trials in the colour workshop blue glasses were indeed placed next to red ones and the contrast between these hues inspired this new palette); and Rubelli's “Madama Butterfly”, a silk lampas in which metallic threads are employed to achieve further brightness, with a design inspired by an original brocade from the second half of the 18th century from the Rubelli Archives.
Inspired by the legacy of these producers and historic companies, six contemporary artists and fashion designers moved from luxuriously sumptuous fabrics and ancient decorative motifs to create new pieces and installations.
Marialuisa Tadei created decorative mosaic patterns for her installations “Il Castello di Sole”, “S. Angelo”, “Diadema/Sole” and “Traiettorie Stellari”; Rubelli created with Marya Kazoun a custom fabric employed to make costumes for performers inside the pavilion and for the abstract sculpture "Of Selves Pixies and Goons"; Mimmo Roselli worked on the visualisation of ethno-cultural parallel worlds; the AES+F (a group comprising four Russian artists - Tatiana Arzamasova, Lev Evzovich, Evgeny Svyatsky and Vladimir Fridkes), and Anahita Razmi collaborated instead with the Fortuny company.
The Russian group developed digital staged images entitled "The Feast of Trimalchio, Arrival of the Golden Boat" and "Allegoria Sacra"; Razmi made a video projection, "Iranian Beauty", and a series of textile pieces featuring Iranian banknotes printed on Fortuny fabric.
The showcase also marks the return of the Luigi Bevilacqua weaving mill since its exhibition at the Venice Pavilion in 1934.
Yiqing Yin closely worked with Bevilacqua creating a fragile sculpture, a liquid organza panel embroidered with silk threads with the node point technique.
The panel forms the silhouette of a woman and Yin cleverly transferred in this piece the dynamic potential of her designs: the figure she created with luxurious yarns is indeed an open structure in mutation, just like her designs are characterised by pleated and draped motifs that change as the wearer moves.
Yin's work for the pavilion developed with a further collaboration: her Autumn/Winter 2013-14 Haute Couture collection features indeed an evening dress made with Luigi Bevilacqua's hand-woven velvet.
Those readers who would like to discover more about luxurious Venetian textiles should try not to miss today's free event about Fortuny fabrics at Palazzo Mocenigo in Venice (3.00 p.m.). You can check out further free events about fashion and textiles that will be taking place between October and December at Palazzo Mocenigo here.
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