ARTH 266 Aspects of the History of Fibre Art

• Instructor: Victoria Macbeath

The global presence of textiles and their capacity to embody local and personal meaning makes the history of fibre art a rich and varied field. This course offers a selective examination of the development of fibre arts across the globe. Historically affiliated with craft and viewed as signifier of the feminine and the non-industrial, textiles have at the same time played a key role in nationalist, capitalist and industrial developments. The course will examine this complex and charged history of fibre art through a series of linked case studies. Each one will represent a selected geographical location and/or different historical period, for instance: Modernist weaving in Tunisia, ties between the Scottish paisley shawl and the textile traditions of India, Denim and its relationship to industry and labour, and western concepts of Japonisme in relation to Japanese fibre art. These case studies will explore the tactile, sensual and human dimensions of textile art while also focusing on the transcultural aesthetic produced in what Mary Louise Pratt calls the ‘contact zones’ of colonial interaction. Concerns for gender and cultural identity, social status and allegiance (whether familial, cultural or subcultural) will frame these discussions. 

Students will gain a familiarity with fibre arts practices from a wide variety of places, people, and contexts of making. Students will also develop skills in critical engagement and analysis of theoretical texts and will hone skills in writing about fibre arts and the social conditions which they emerge from.