Barbican’s Unravel exhibition explores the subversive power of textiles
CategoriesInterior Design

Barbican’s Unravel exhibition explores the subversive power of textiles

Curator Lotte Johnson discusses the transformative power of textiles in this video produced by Dezeen for the Barbican’s latest exhibition.

Titled Unravel: The Power and Politics of Textiles in Art, the exhibition examines how textiles have been employed to explore themes spanning power, oppression, gender and belonging.

It features over 100 works that make use of textile, fibre and thread from over 50 artists from across the globe, spanning from the 1960s to the present day.

The exhibition explores how artists have used textiles to express their lived experience

The exhibition is designed to challenge the perception of textiles being solely domestic or craft practices and instead features textile works that relate a story of resistance and rebellion as well as pieces that present narratives of emancipation and joy.

Johnson explained that textiles offer a meaningful medium to express personal and political issues due to their tactile nature and intimate connection to daily life.

“Textiles are one of the most under-examined mediums in art history and in fact history itself,” Johnson said. “They are an intrinsic part of our everyday lives. When we’re born, we’re shrouded in a piece of fabric. Everyday we wrap ourselves in textiles,” she continued.

“They’re really this very intimate, tactile part of our lives and therefore perhaps the most intrinsic, meaningful way to express ourselves.”

Judy Chicago Birth ProjectJudy Chicago Birth Project
Feminist artist Judy Chicago’s Birth Project depicts birth as a mystical and confrontational process

The exhibition is structured into six thematic sections. The first, called Subversive Stitch, presents works that challenge binary conceptions of gender and sexuality.

The section includes feminist artist Judy Chicago’s Birth Project, which vividly depicts the glory, pain and mysticism of giving birth, as well as a piece from South African artist Nicholas Hlobo, which, despite initially appearing as a painting, is made using ribbon and leather stitched into a canvas.

Another section of the exhibition is titled Bearing Witness, which brings together artists who employ textiles to confront and protest political injustices and systems of violent oppression.

Teresea Margolles tapestry Teresea Margolles tapestry
Artist Teresa Margolles creates collective tapestries that trigger conversations on police brutality

Included in this section are tapestries by Mexican artist Teresa Margolles that commemorate the lives of individuals including Eric Garner and Jadeth Rosano López.

Garner was an African-American man killed in 2014 by NYPD police officer Daniel Pantaleo, who put Garner into a chokehold during arrest. López was a seventeen-year old-girl assassinated in Panama City.

Margolles used fabric that had been placed in contact with the victims’ deceased bodies and collaborated with embroiderers from their respective local communities to create the tapestries.

The Wound and Repair sections includes work from American artist and activist Harmony Hammond’s Bandaged Grid series, in which layered fabric is used to evoke imagery reminiscent of an injured body.

Tau Lewis tapestryTau Lewis tapestry
Tau Lewis’ fabric assemblages offer new narratives of black histories

While violence and brutality are key themes examined in the exhibition, it also showcases how textiles can be used to create narratives of hope. The final, most expansive section of the exhibition is titled Ancestral Threads, which encompasses works created to inspire a sense of optimism and reconnect with ancestral practices.

“This section not only explores artists processing exploitative and violent colonial and imperialist histories, but also celebrates the artists who are re-summoning and relearning ancient knowledge systems to imagine a different kind of future,” Johnson explained.

Canadian multimedia artist Tau Lewis’s work titled The Coral Reef Preservation Society is a patchwork assemblage of recycled fabrics and seashells including fragments of textured denim.

The work pays homage to the enslaved women and children thrown overboard in the Middle Passage, the historical transportation route used during the Atlantic slave trade. These women and children have been reimagined as underwater sea creatures to transform the narrative into one of regeneration.

Vicuña revives the art of the quipu in her installation Quipu Austral

A large installation by Chilean artist Cecilia Vicuña titled Quipu Austral is situated towards the end of the exhibition. The installation takes the form of billowing ribbons hanging from the ceiling.

Vicuña references quipu, a form of recording used by a number cultures in Andean South America. Quipu was a ancient writing system which used knotted textile cords to communicate information.

Other sections in the exhibition include Fabric of Everyday, which explores the daily uses of textiles, as well as Borderlands, which examines how textiles have been used to challenge ideas around belonging.

These sections feature works such as Shelia Hicks’ colourful woven bundles and Margarita Cabrera’s soft sculpture cacti crafted from reclaimed US border patrol uniforms.

Mexican-American artist Margarita Cabrera uses reclaimed border patrol uniforms in her work

“We hope that people might come out of this exhibition feeling invigorated and moved by the stories of resilience and rebellion embedded in the work but also hope and emancipation,” Johnson said.

“I hope that the show might inspire people to pick up a needle and thread themselves and use it to express their own lived experience.”

The show is a partnership between the Barbican and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam and was co-curated by Barbican curators Johnson, Wells Fray-Smith and Diego Chocano, in collaboration with Amanda Pinatih from the Stedelijk.

Unravel: The Power and Politics of Textiles in Art is at the Barbican Centre until 26 May 2024. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

Partnership content

This video was produced by Dezeen for the Barbican Centre as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen’s partnership content here.

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Moooi furnishings “tell a different story on every floor” of Art Legacy Hotel
CategoriesInterior Design

Moooi furnishings “tell a different story on every floor” of Art Legacy Hotel

Father and son architect duo Luís and Tiago Rebelo de Andrade explain how they furnished Lisbon’s Art Legacy Hotel entirely with Moooi products in this video produced by Dezeen for the Dutch furniture brand.

Lisbon practice Rebelo De Andrade designed the interiors of the five star Art Legacy Hotel, located in the Baixa-Chiado district in the city’s centre.

The hotel is notable for its exclusive use of Moooi products and rooms with bold primary colour schemes.

A suite with a yellow colour scheme in the Art Legacy Hotel in LisbonA suite with a yellow colour scheme in the Art Legacy Hotel in Lisbon
Art Legacy Hotel is a five star hotel in Lisbon

“Hospitality is always about image and stories,” said Luís Rebelo De Andrade, founder of the studio, in the exclusive Dezeen video interview. “We wanted the guests, when they come to this hotel, to have a completely unexpected experience.”

“So, we proposed to our client that we make a hotel with only Moooi products, to give it a very strong identity.”

Moooi’s products were used throughout the hotel, including carpets, furniture, lighting, wall coverings and art pieces.

“Moooi is everywhere in the building,” said Tiago Rebelo De Andrade, who is partner and principal architect at the studio and Luís Rebelo De Andrade’s son. “When you enter the hotel, all the colours, all the textures, all the furniture from Moooi helps us to tell a different story in every floor.

A room with a red colour scheme and Moooi lighting in the Art Legacy HotelA room with a red colour scheme and Moooi lighting in the Art Legacy Hotel
Rebelo De Andrade furnished the Art Legacy Hotel entirely with Moooi products

The project is a renovation of a historical office building. Alongside overhauling the hotel’s interior, Rebelo De Andrade also redesigned its facade.

According to Tiago Rebelo De Andrade, Moooi’s blend of modernity and classical references suited the studio’s approach to designing the hotel’s interiors.

“Moooi is classic but in a way that can also be modern,” he said. “It’s a modern-classic building.”

The facade of Art Legacy HotelThe facade of Art Legacy Hotel
Art Legacy Hotel is a renovation of a historic building in Lisbon’s centre

Luís Rebelo De Andrade decided to partner with Moooi on the hotel’s interiors after visiting the brand’s Museum of Extinct Animals exhibition at Milan design week in 2018.

Each room in the Art Legacy Hotel has either a blue, red, yellow or green colour scheme, with matching wall coverings, furniture and tiling in the bathrooms.

“When I first met Moooi’s products, I felt that it uses a lot of primary colours,” he said. “So I used primary colours in a very strong way in the hotel. They are colours that provoke you.”

Lobby of Art Legacy Hotel in LisbonLobby of Art Legacy Hotel in Lisbon
Moooi’s lighting, furniture, wall coverings and carpets are used throughout Art Legacy Hotel

In the video interview, the duo also discussed their working relationship.

“My son, he provokes me,” said Luís Rebelo De Andrade. “We had to educate ourselves on how to work together.”

“I offer my experience, he offers his youth in projects,” he continued. “So I think it’s a good mix.”

A room with a blue colour scheme and Moooi furnishings in Lisbon's Art Legacy HotelA room with a blue colour scheme and Moooi furnishings in Lisbon's Art Legacy Hotel
Rebelo De Andrade used primary colour schemes in Art Legacy Hotel’s rooms

“It’s difficult because it’s a father and son relationship,” added Tiago Rebelo De Andrade. “We are always arguing, but at the end of the day, we drink a bottle of wine so that we can make peace with each other.”

Other recent projects from Moooi include the IDEO-designed Pallana suspension lamp, made up of adjustable ring lights, and the rope-like Knitty Chair designed by Nika Zupanc.

The photography is by João Guimarães.

Partnership content

This video was produced by Dezeen for Moooi as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen’s partnership content here.

Reference

Michael Hsu Office of Architecture utilises soft shapes for Austin high-rise
CategoriesInterior Design

Michael Hsu Office of Architecture utilises soft shapes for Austin high-rise

Texas studio Michael Hsu Office of Architecture has designed the common areas for a 50-storey residential high-rise building in Austin, as shown in this exclusive video captured by Dezeen.

Called 44 East, the building is located east of downtown Austin in the Rainey Street Historic district. The firm designed the interiors of the building’s common areas, which take cues from its natural surroundings, particularly the neighbouring Colorado River.

Michael Hsu Office of Architecture has designed the interiors of 44 East

The practice enhanced the space using colour and texture, layering vintage and custom furnishings to create a relaxed and inviting ambience.

Curved surfaces and light colours are incorporated throughout the space, with poured concrete terrazzo floors incorporated to pay homage to the gravel of the nearby riverside trail.

Michael Hsu interior design of 44 EastMichael Hsu interior design of 44 East
Curved surfaces and light colours are incorporated into the lobby area of 44 East

The interior is characterised by the use of soft shapes and natural materials throughout the various spaces, including on the eleventh floor, where pastel hues complement subtle architectural details.

The outdoor swimming pool features a series of pebble-shaped islands, with a partially-covered patio inviting guests to relax outside and enjoy the views of the river.

Swimming pool area of 44 East Swimming pool area of 44 East
The eleventh floor features a circular outdoor swimming pool

On the thirty-seventh floor, a large moon-like pendant light is suspended above a plush circular sofa.

The higher vantage point offers scenic views of downtown Austin, and features jewel tones and darker materials intended to complement the Texas skyline at dusk.

37th floor of 44 East37th floor of 44 East
The thirty-seventh floor features darker tones to complement views of the Texas skyline

44 East was developed by Intracorp, while the tower and unit interiors were designed by Page and landscapes designed by DWG.

The interior design of the common spaces is one of the latest projects by Michael Hsu Office of Architecture, which is based in Austin and Houston.

The company recently completed its self-designed Austin studio, which is adorned in wood-and-fabric lined walls and industrial details, to accommodate its growing team.

The photography is by Chase Daniel.

Partnership content

This video was produced by Dezeen for Michael Hsu Office of Architecture as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.



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