Events/Openings

Hans-Peter Jochum dedicates the upcoming autumn exhibition to textile art, showing, among others, the work of Sofie Dawo (1923-2010), one of the most notable protagonists of this discipline. Following an intuitive process and working directly on the loom without using preliminary sketches, Dawo was transgressing the boundaries of the medium's two-dimensional format as early as in the Nineteen Sixties, and helped to steer the evolution of tapestry towards three-dimensional Relief and fine art. Between 1958 and 1992, Dawo taught at the Federal Academy for the Art and Crafts – today's Academy of Fine Arts Saar (HBKSaar) – thus leaving her mark on younger generations of artists as well.

Alongside numerous of Dawo's works, studies on paper for textiles by artists Lena Meyer-Bergner and Elisabeth Kadow – both educated at the Bauhaus university, Weimar – are also on view. Samples by Barbro Nilsson from the notable Swedish weaver Märta-Maas Fjetterström, as well as carpets by Scandinavian textile artists made between 1958 and 1970 document the versatility of a medium, which has asserted and established itself throughout Modernism – an aspect also evident in the pictorial textiles of Renata Bonfanti. Both a hand-woven wall piece and a rug made in the Sixties by Bonfanti will be on view.

An installation by Frauke Eigen bearing handmade "Friendship-Balls" – or Japanese Temari – traces a Far East tradition from the 7th Century. In addition, hand-woven Moroccan rugs are showcased to bridge the gap between traditional and contemporary. These textiles can certainly withstand comparison to European masterpieces.