FROM TAPESTRY TO FIBER ART “The Lousanne Biennials 1962 – 1995”
From Tapestry to Fiber Art – Le biennali di Losanna 1962 – 1995
Authors: Giselle Eberhard Cotton, Magali Junet;
Publishers: Skira, Milan / Fondation Toms Pauli, Lausanne, first edition 2017, 224 pages, 180 illustrations in color and in black and white;
text in English language.
The history of Biennials of Lausanne, the rebirth of tapestry and the origins of Fiber Art.
At the end of World War II, the art of the tapestry underwent a phase of deep rebirth and renewal.Tapestry workshops and factories across Europe returned to their reputation, monumental making himself modern. This arte broke free from its dependence on the painting that, in the previous century, had almost doomed to oblivion.
An advocate of this revival was a brilliant artist Jean Lurçat who, in the 40s transformed what was a traditional craft into a veritable art form. Contemporary art.
The intense activity of Lurçat led to the birth of CITAM (Center de Internazionational latapisserie ancienne et moderne) and the organization of the renowned Biennale in Lausannethat took place since 1962: the city of Lausanne was recognized as the capital of textile art contemporary and center of the movement New Tapestry.
The book opens with an article by Janis Jefferies that provides a general overview. He puts the textile art in the broader context of art: “The importance of this event (biennials) has been to position the textile art in a broader view of the history of art …” you feel a bond with the renewed interest in the fabrics currently shown by the art scene: “most art critics recognize what artists have always known, that the textile materiality with all its severity, responsiveness and access to life and has a loss enormous capacity to talk about problems of our human condition. ” In his conclusion he states that“Lausanne has led to a critical redefinition of the tapestry and textile art claiming a space within a wider field of visual arts.”
The book contains over 150 photographs of works and pictures of museum exhibits, most of which are new and testifies to the vitality of these exhibitions and their strong impact on the international level.
Historical research carried out by the Toms Pauli Foundation, heir to the International Center of ancient and modern tapestries (CITAM) is enriched by essays by specialists from four countries with strong textile tradition: France, Poland, United States and Japan.
The image of the book and parts of the text were published with kind permission of the publishing house Skira www.skira.net
