Rawhia Aly, L’arbre et le chat, 1961. Collectie Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam.
From 13 November, the Let Textiles Talk exhibition shows six colorful tapestries that encourage people to think. Together with the new curator of design, Amanda Pinatih, you will unravel the appeal of these barely seen carpets.
In 1951, the Egyptian architect and educator Ramses Wissa Wassef, together with his wife Sophie Habib Georgi, embarked on an experiment on creativity that was praised by prominent figures from the art world, such as former director of the Stedelijk Willem Sandberg, artist Etel Adnan and philosopher Jean Paul Sartre. With the experiment, Wassef wanted to prove that creativity is innate, and anyone can make art. He did this by teaching children to weave carpets ‘uninhibited’ and isolated from ‘modern civilization’. In doing so, he opposed the monotonous mass production and lack of creativity in 20th century urban culture.
In Let Textiles Talk, the Stedelijk combines the carpets with works by Etel Adnan, Karel Appel, Dorothy Akpene Amenuke, Sheila Hicks, Jean Lurçat and others. These works take a transnational journey through history, raising questions about how the carpets and their makers have been contextualized over the years and from what perspective we can view the experiment today.
A group of Egyptian children, (textile) artists from all over the world and a former museum director tell their personal stories at the six tapestries. These stories have been strung together by Amanda Pinatih into a mosaic story about textile art, creative expression, and revaluation of the collection.
The six carpets seem to be an odd one out in the Stedelijk’s collection. It is a typical example of how the Western view of the past collected art from outside Europe and North America as something ‘naive’ and ‘primitive’. Artists were inspired by creativity and traditional craftsmanship. In this exhibition I let the public look at the same thing through different glasses. What strikes you most?
Curator of Design Amanda Pinatih
In today’s Stedelijk, research will be given a more prominent role than before. The museum’s own collection and exhibition history is also examined. Sandberg’s choice of these six carpets is enigmatic and fascinating and can be explained within the framework of his time.
Director Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam Rein Wolfs
let’s plunge
