Textile art lovers rejoice - the 23rd edition of "Miniartextil" opens tomorrow at Palazzo Mocenigo, the Museum and Study Centre of the History of Fabrics and Costumes, in Venice.
The event, organised by Arte & Arte Como and curated by Luciano Caramel, is dedicated this year to the "Eros" theme and promises exciting and inspiring works by a variety of international artists.
Miniartextil goes a long way back: the first event was launched in 1991 in Como at the Chiostrino di Santa Eufemia. When it first started, the initial concept behind this exhibition was showing small format works (20 X 20 X 20 cm) mainly by Italian artists who expressed themselves through threads of every description, including copper, silk, iron, light, wool and glass.
As the years passed the event opened to foreign artists as well, turning into an ambitious and avant-garde cultural project that recently obtained international recognition.
"Miniartextil 2013 - Eros" arrives in Venice with 54 artists from different nations. All the works included present textile macrocosms of modernity, all of them have high aesthetic values and guarantee a powerful visual impact.
Visitors will be able to see works using the most disparate techniques around, including weaving, twarping, wefting by hand or machine, and materials such as animal, vegetable, artificial and mineral fibres with some objet trouvé and natural materials like wood and leaves thrown into this eclectic mix.
"Eros" was also showcased in Como at the end of last year. In that occasion, in addition to the mini-textiles, there were also installations by international artists created specifically for the exhibition that introduced visitors to works made employing Japanese paper and yarns (Takaaki Tanaka), non-textile paper cut-outs (Manuel Ameztoy), wickerwork (Daniele Delfino and Blaise Cayol), human hair (Fiona Kirkwood), fine paper and transparent Plexiglass (Candida Ferrari). Video installations (Giuseppe Coco) and colourful sculptures (Mai Tabakian) weren't missing.
Love is interpreted in these works as the object of desire, as attraction and dreamlike dimension, or as the couple intended as the first social microcosm.
Some artists looked for inspiration at Plato’s Symposium in which Eros is the child of Poros (abundance) and Penia (poverty), others such as Keiichi Nagasawa (his installation will also be showcased in Venice) hinted at the Eros/Thanatos dichotomy, symbolised by red and black yarns trapped in see-through T-shirt-shaped gravestones.
A few artists also looked at their own backgrounds and traditions for inspirations: Beili Liu moved from the ancient Chinese legend of the "Red Thread" telling that when children are born, invisible red threads connect them to the ones whom they are fated to be with; iIn Noriko Narahira's installations the red threads symbolise instead the energy of life and the knots the throes of creation.
Kumi Yamashita, from Japan, opted for a minimalist approach that plays around the seen/unseen-heard/unheard dichotomies in Japanese culture, using a white sheet to create a seductive shadow of a naked woman.
One of the highlights of the original "Miniartextil - Eros" exhibit that took place in Como remains Yinka Shonibare's elaborate tableaux entitled "The Crowning". The latter features headless statues of two lovers in a garden, a scene inspired by paintings by Jean-Honoré Fragonard commissioned by Madame du Barry, mistress of Louis XV, for a new pavilion in the garden of her château at Louveciennes.
The sculptures, in 18th century costumes made with Shonibare's trademark Dutch wax fabrics, represent the French aristocracy, while hinting at wider issues such as identity, wealth, propriety, landscape, excess, power and morality.
After Venice, Miniartextil will be travelling to France, reaching Montrouge and Caudry.
"Miniartextil 2013 - Eros" is at Palazzo Mocenigo, The Museum and Study Centre of the History of Fabrics and Costumes, Santa Croce 1992 - 30133 Venice, Italy, from 11th January - 14th February 2014.
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