SOMETHING DIFFERENT THIS TIME....
... from my usual book reviews. I’ll be going back to those on Wednesday May 26th, when I’ll write about Nicola Morgan’s latest, Wasted and Gillian Philip's Bad Faith. Meanwhile, I’d like to draw everyone’s attention to a most wonderful exhibition at the V&A . It’s called Quilts, 1700-2010 and it ends on the 4th July, which gives you a few weeks to get there. If this is your kind of thing, it’s very much worth your while, because it seems to me to be a real example of how to arrange and curate an exhibition. This link will take you to the V&A site where you’ll find a few more details about such things as how to get there, book, etc. There’s also a link on the V&A site to curator Susan Prichard’s blog, which is fascinating. It’s worth booking in advance as this is an enormously popular show.
http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/textiles/quilts-1700-2010/
There’s everything here you could possibly wish for to look at. Not only domestic quilts, made by (mostly) women for practical purposes, but also very elaborate ornamental patchworks and quilts, patchworks for display and commemoration and (most moving, these are) quilts made in times of adversity. Convict women sailing to Australia in 1841 made the Rajah Quilt on the journey and I give notice to all Sassies that I’m bagging that story as the basis of a future book. Then, echoing that, there’s a quilt made at Wandsworth prison by present-day male inmates, who were helped by a most unusual and interesting charity called Fine Cell Work to create a piece which describes their thoughts about being in gaol. It’s inspiring to see the effect that needlework has on men who’ve never had a chance to express themselves in such a way before. See this link. http://www.finecellwork.co.uk/aboutus/
Sailors and soldiers have made quilts. Women and girls in a Japanese prisoner -of- war camp made a most beautiful piece on which each of them has embroidered her name. There are bedspreads, cot blankets, bed curtains, decorative pieces and in some what’s touching is the lack of skill of the maker. That’s beautiful in its own way. Contemporary artists have added pieces which give their take on the art of patchwork and quilting. I loved a piece called Liberty Jack which makes a Union flag out of thousands of bits taken from Liberty prints. That’s by Janey Forgan.. There’s a quilt made of Chinese bank notes. Grayson Perry’s contribution is characteristically striking and Tracey Emin has provided a contrast to her famous unmade bed in a really beautiful four-poster hung with velvets and satins and embroidered with slogans. But these are not the real highlight of the show, which for me was the wealth of memory and imagination on display from all kinds of people through the years. Traditional patchwork and quilting is still flourishing. Below I give a link to a most gorgeous book by the excellent Jane Brocket which will guide anyone who’s interested in pursuing the art of patchwork themselves.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1843405334/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_i1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-1&pf_rd_r=174R92V52C8R4V5X52NE&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=467198433&pf_rd_i=468294
I’m a knitter rather than a needlewoman, but I’ve always thought of patchwork as a kind of metaphor for life and one of my very earliest books is about an elderly lady who tells stories from a patchwork she’s made to a child in bed under that same quilt. Barn Owl Books rescued this from oblivion for a while and I was delighted to see it back in print but now it’s out of print again. I’m providing a link anyway.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Apricots-at-Midnight-Ad%C3%A8le-Geras/dp/1903015294/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1274177421&sr=1-1
The exhibition shop is full of things, most of which are very expensive and some of which are annoying. Why is it that you can never buy postcards of the very things you love best? Still, a pack of 20 cards for £7.50 is good value. I just wish there were a fridge magnet because I collect those. Still, never mind. It’s a tiny criticism of a really marvellous exhibition. Do visit it if you can. Hurray for the V&A and congratulations to Susan Prichard and everyone who helped her put it on.
14 comments:
Lovely post Adele... and yes I thought this a marvellous exhibition and found the work done by the Wandsworth Prisoners under the guidance of Fine Cell Work very moving esp. when I found a square done by a prisoner obviously longing for his African home. But it wasn't just the traditional quilts...it was the modern work of artists like Pauline Burbridge with black and white pieces that looked like fine etchings of watery, reeded landscapes but were in fact stitched and quilted, that were magnificent. The V&A have gone from strength to strength to create a dynamic experience. The new Ceramic Gallery, right at the top under the cupolas is brilliant too. In 2 weeks time I'm doing a one day workshop at the V&A on 'Digital Photographs in Stitched Textiles' which I'm hoping will be story-telling with a difference... in fact exactly what quilts are. A great post... thank you!
Quilts often tell a wonderful social history! We had a magnificent and moving display of war time quilts here in Australia. Some were made from rough hessian sugar bags and flour bags. They were interspersed with some more modern pictorial quilts. I was working on the display next to the quilts at an exhibition and people kept going back to look at the quilts again and again. Get to yours if you can!
A bit off topic, but I just wanted to say how much I LOVED Apricots at Midnight as a child. It's a beautiful, beautiful book with a little something for everybody - my favourite story had a supernatural, spooky feel to it but most were realistic historical stories, some the kids-fighting sort that other kids love - which my parents bought me because they loved the cover design, showing the central patchwork quilt. I'm so sad to hear that it's out of print - I hope it is resurrected, because it's a gem and deserves to enchant new generations as much as it did me!
I am so glad you chose to write about the exhibition, Adele, becauses you are right: it is ALL about stories. And the convict ladies' surprisingly ladylike quilt was my favourite too.
My only criticism of the show was that I wanted more images - paintings or photos - of the women (and men) at work on the quilts. Such pics as I have seen elsewhere showed a quietly intense interaction between the participants.
The Strawberry Hill exhibition next door is good too.
Thanks for all the comments! I wish wish wish I could come to your workshop, Dianne. And Juliette, I'm delighted you enjoyed Apricots at Midnight...thanks. Of course, you're right Michelle, seeing the makers would have been good too, but I guess you have to draw the line somewhere. And yes, I loved Pauline Burbridge too.
I loved this exhibition, too. Interestingly, I was less taken by the contemporary quilters who had little plaques explaining the motivation behind their work. The anonymous work of quilters from hundreds of years ago - or stuck in a prison today - spoke to me much more. The Wandsworth prison quilt was by far my favourite. And I must confess to buying some fabric in the shop afterwards!
I feel horribly ignorant, now. I have a friend who has always been an avid quilter (quilt-maker?) and I feel ashamed that all I've done is say "how clever" / "how pretty" instead of actually understanding the history and story behind it. Thank you, Adele, for opening my eyes! I won't be able to get to the actual exhibition but I'm going to visit those sites now.
Catdownunder... your war time quilts in flour bags and hessian sound similar to one on display at the V&A except this was in bits and scraps of old uniform...serges and drill fabric... in greys and khaki and navy with a recording of a woman's voice from the time telling how they met in one another's houses and how hard it was to find fabric. These were quilts of need rather than purely decorative but the pragmatic voice together with sombre colours of the quilt highlighted that same 'wonderful sociological history', that you mention.
This sounds wonderful. I have had a secret yen to make quilts ever since reading the Green Knowe books as a child where Mrs Oldknowe makes quilts from the clothes of people who have once lived in the house. Lucy Boston's own quilts can still be seen displayed at Hemingford Grey Manor in Cambridgeshire and they are works of art to equal her books.
Yes, the same sort of thing Dianne and the same sort of thrift and need. We have a quilt and craft fair here each year. There are often works of art on display but they do not 'speak' in the same way.
I have a group of friends who are quilt-makers and who live in Jeddah, where I lived for several years. Their different nationalities and their very different experiences of life there are all reflected in the beautiful quilts they create and the stories behind each patch are equally amazing.
The quilt exhibition at the V&A will be my next stop. Thanks for highlighting it, Adele.
I loved this exibition too. I hope to go again before it closes with my best friend who has made quilts herself. Have you seen the beautiful quilts in The American Museum just outside Bath? It's well worth a visit if you are ever in the west country.
I just saw this exhibition yesterday and loved it as much as everyone else. I did a bit of quilting years ago and am now inspired to start again -- bought a book and some fabric to get me started. Thanks for this great review.
And by the way, Apricots at Midnight was my first Adele Geras, read about 3 years ago when I first started blogging. Great stuff.
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