'In the fibre of her being', curated by Sarah Rose, Stein Gallery, Fairfield Museum & Gallery, Installation view. Photograph by Document Photography.

(left) Atong Atem, 'Morayo', 2015, ilford smooth pearl print, 84.1x 59.4cm; (centre) Atong Atem, 'Paanda', 2015, ilford smooth pearl print, 84.1 x 59.4cm; (right) Atong Atem, Adut, 2015, ilford smooth pearl print, 59.4 x 84.1cm. Photograph by Document Photography.

Nadia Hernández, 'De lo que somos… (Of what we are…)', 2021, synthetic polymer paint on wall, acrylic, cotton, linen, ribbon and eco-dyed material on recycled textiles, dimensions variable. Photograph by Document Photography.

Collection of works by the Tjanpi Desert Weavers - on the wall: (left) Ngilan (Margaret) Dodd, 'Round multi-coloured raffia vessel', 2020, raffia, 45 x 50cm; (middle-left) Ngilan (Margaret) Dodd, 'Round raffia vessel', 2020, raffia, 38 x 45cm; (middle-right) Mrs M. Bennett, 'Round basket', 2018, tjanpi (grass), acrylic wool, raffia, wipya (emu feathers), 56 x 10cm; (right) Puna Yanima, 'Large solid round basket 2', 2020, raffia, wipya (emu feathers), 67 x 58 x 25cm. Photograph by Document Photography.

Collection of works by the Tjanpi Desert Weavers: (centre) Puna Yanima, Large solid round basket 1, 2020, raffia, wipya (emu feathers), 60 x 20cm; (left) Ngilan (Margaret) Dodd, Round raffia vessel with handles, 2021, raffia, 46 x 24 x 40cm; (right) Ngilan (Margaret) Dodd, Large round raffia vessel, 2021, raffia, 50 x 51cm. Photograph by Document Photography.

Ngilan (Margaret) Dodd, 'Round raffia vessel with handles' (detail), 2021, raffia, 46 x 24 x 40cm. Photograph by Document Photography.

Kate Just, 'Feminist Fan #1 (PUSSY: Casey at the Melbourne Pussy Riot Protest, 2012)', 2015, hand knitted wool and acrylic yarns, canvas and timber, 38.1 x 50.8cm. Photograph by Document Photography.

(top) Kate Just, 'Feminist Fan #3 (Pussy Riot at Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, 2012)', 2015, hand knitted wool and acrylic yarns, canvas and timber, 38.1 x 50.8cm; (bottom) Kate Just, 'Feminist Fan #7 (Chinese Feminist Five’s 2012 Protest against domestic violence in Beijing)', 2015, hand knitted wool and acrylic yarns, canvas and timber, 40.6 x 55.9cm. Photograph by Document Photography.

Linda Sok, 'Mending fragments of a memory', 2021, fabric (assorted), metal trinkets, string, rattan, paint. Dimensions variable. Photograph by Document Photography.

Linda Sok, 'Mending fragments of a memory' (detail), 2021, fabric (assorted), metal trinkets, string, rattan, paint. Dimensions variable. Photograph by Document Photography.

Julia Gutman, 'The Black Jeans', 2021, clothes worn and forgotten by Gutman and her friends, thread on calico, 140 x 188cm. Photograph by Document Photography.

Julia Gutman, 'The Black Jeans' (detail), 2021, clothes worn and forgotten by Gutman and her friends, thread on calico, 140 x 188cm. Photograph by Document Photography.

Monika Cvitanovic Zaper, 'Lineage', 2020, thread and acrylic on a recycled polyester fabric, 127 x 108cm. Photograph by Document Photography.

Crossing Threads®, Lauren and Kass Hernandez, 'THE PASSAGE', 2021, bamboo, chenille, organic, Egyptian cotton, fairtrade hemp, jute, leather, linen, mulberry, tussah silk, botanically-dyed raffia, upcycled sari silk, and wire on galvanised steel frame, 90 x 70 x 10cm approx. Photograph by Document Photography.

Paula do Prado, 'Habla con la luna/Talks with the moon', 2021, wool, cotton, acrylic yarn, paper covered wire, ribbon, metallic thread, pom poms, poly and cotton sewing thread, collected European lace, repurposed plastic fruit netting, metal sinkers, 160 x 230 x 10cm irregular. Photograph by Document Photography.

23 October 2021 - 12 February 2022
Fairfield City Museum & Gallery | Guest Curator

In the fibre of her being

Atong Atem, Crossing Threads®, Monika Cvitanovic Zaper, Julia Gutman, Nadia Hernández, Kate Just, Paula do Prado, Linda Sok, and the Tjanpi Desert Weavers

In the fibre of her being contemplates the role of women as anonymous carriers and preservers of heritage, bringing together a group of artists who use textile-based practices as a mechanism to write their personal and collective histories. With fibre as their dialect, these artists speak to legacies of womanhood and female subjectivity, displacement and diaspora, resilience and healing.

Textiles have long been acutely linked to storytelling, being used by centuries of women across a vast expanse of diverse cultures, geographies, and languages as a mode of communication. The transference and application of intergenerational knowledge and the sharing of matrilineal narratives between women underpins the exhibition. By engaging with their familial and gendered lineages, the artists are able to navigate their cultural and hybridised identities, and by extension their sense of self.

The exhibition considers the long standing and interwoven relationship between women and textiles, acknowledging that these practices were once historically relegated as ‘women’s work’ or a form of domesticated craft. This division between the sexes allowed textiles to emerge as a way for women to communicate their experiences and to forge strong links between female practitioners, leading to the creation of cultural communities through liberation, empowerment, and repossession of the medium.

Exhibition Catalogue

Catalogue Essay