Storytelling Textiles
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Like all organic matter, delicate textiles fall victim to decay. They inevitably perish with the passage of time and so does the memory of their creators – the exceptional weavers, embroiders and lace makers who put their life into their work.
Great civilizations leave behind imposing architecture, sculptors leave behind breathtaking statues, composers live on through their music. Textile art, however, perishes. And although weavers and embroiders lived and worked in the same age as great sculptors and composers, their delicate art succumbed to time. We can only imagine the earthly shades of colors of textile art in those early times, the coarse texture of the handspun yarns used, the fine stitchery of lace that adorned the most precious pieces. The textiles are long gone, the craft is forgotten, and the memory of the women who created them has faded away.
Back in those ancient times, textile artwork was done at home, and it was a woman’s occupation along with housekeeping and childcare. Day after day, stitch after stitch, textile was probably the only creative outlet for women, who grew into artists of their own merit, not to be slighted in comparison with women artisans of more modern ages. The fact that they never achieved proper recognition makes the loss of their art even more heartbreaking.
Ann West of 19th century rural England is one of the few artists of the preindustrial world whose work has been preserved. Her vibrant patchworks depicted biblical stories, ordinary life, exotic animals, or pure fantasy scenes and were hung on walls in nurseries or Sunday schools. Along with her admirable mastery and attention to detail, Ann West bestowed us with a heartwarming wish, subtly embroidered in each of her works: ‘Remember me. Forget me not.’ Thankfully we haven’t.
Nevertheless, Ann West is one of the very few whose work survives the centuries and whose rich imaginative world stands crisp and clear before our eyes (the Victoria and Albert Museum in London have immortalized it with a high-definition digital visual available for everyone to explore online).
Today’s textile art and skills are not immune to extinction either. While we cannot do much about heritage that is already lost, at ODAYA Home we are set to unearth the beauty that is hidden in old chests and to revive the craft that has been passed over from generation to generation. We are recreating models and ornaments imbued with powerful symbolic meaning and encouraging skilled craftswomen to bring them to life with contemporary, premium yarn. Created at home, just like in the past, these textiles will travel to new, modern residences, to people who will appreciate the intransient value of textile as a form of art.
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