RADICAL TEXTILES Will Open at the Art Gallery of South Australia

A major new exhibition, Radical Textiles will launch at the Art Gallery of South Australia on Saturday 23 November alongside a calendar of programs and events that explore fashion, feminism, craft, sustainability and more. Hear from artists and fashion designers including Nell, Kay Lawrence, Jordon Gogos, Paul McCann and Nicol & Ford at talks over the opening weekend, or step into The Studio: Frida Las Vegas, a technicolour wonderland that celebrates kitsch and pop culture with an Australiana twist.

South Australian artist Frida Las Vegas, aka Stavroula Adameitis, invites visitors to step inside her vibrant world to become a textile designer and create a graphic print in AGSA’s free activity space The Studio, launching to coincide with Radical Textiles. A dazzling space where budding designers can draw, colour, cut and paste to their heart's content, The Studio: Frida Las Vegas encourages experimentation with textile pattern principles in Frida Las Vegas’ signature Pop Art style.

Stavroula Adameitis says, 'Visitors can expect to enter a colourful, exuberant and highly energetic space where they can engage with textile design in a playful way. I encourage people of all ages to draw with bright colours, lines, patterns, shapes and icons to create artworks that are just as unique and fabulous as they are.’

   

Radical Textiles will also offer a series of hands-on Summer Workshops, including a knitting class with Cardigang founders Cat Bloxsom and Morgan Collins, a Stitch and Resist workshop with artist Carly Snoswell, visible mending with Donna Gordge using the Japanese technique of Sashiko, and printed textile scarf design with Frida Las Vegas.

South Australian students are invited to take part in a large-scale collaborative Stitch and Resist activity that will run throughout the Radical Textiles exhibition season. Each contributor will stitch a word or symbol that represents an issue they are passionate about onto a square of fabric, with the contributions joined together to go on display at AGSA in 2025.

AGSA Acting Director Emma Fey says, ‘Each major AGSA exhibition presents a platform for an exciting collection of programs for the public to enjoy and Radical Textiles is no exception. The exhibition’s events and programs promise immersive activities, talks and workshops that uncover the ways textiles have spanned politics, fashion, community and care over the last 150 years.’

Other public programs throughout the exhibition season include an ever-changing series of live music, talks and tours as part of the Gallery’s First Fridays program. On the first Friday of every month, visitors can learn about upcycling and lost craft techniques, and enjoy artist led workshops and performances.

The AGSA Store will celebrate Radical Textiles with a wide range of merchandise, including a hard-cover 236-page exhibition catalogue, exclusive Cardigang knitting kits, and a bespoke collection of jewellery by Tarryn Gill. Other merchandise includes embroidered patches and coin purses produced in collaboration with artist Sally Smart, an enamel pin of Don Dunstan’s iconic pink shorts, as well as crochet and embroidery kits, needle minders, bags, tea towels and brooches from Australian brands.

A world-exclusive exhibition, Radical Textiles will open at AGSA on 23 November 2024. From tapestry and embroidery to quilting and tailoring, in the hands of artists, textiles have been pivotal in expressing moments of profound social change and political rupture. The exhibition presents works by more than 150 artists, designers and activists to explore how textiles have marked acts of resistance, revival, remembrance and reconciliation over the past 150 years.

 

To post a comment, you must register and login.