ON AND OFF CAMPUS: VISUAL—AND VICTUAL—CULTURE

Darby Raymond-Overstreet (Diné), The Passage, 2019 Scanned Navajo textiles, canvas print, pine, wool. Courtesy the artist

On view at Bard Graduate Center (BGC) from February 17 through July 9, 2023, Shaped by the Loom is an exhibition of Indigenous textiles from the greater American Southwest, including many examples of rarely displayed Navajo weaving on loan from the American Museum of Natural History. Instead of presenting the pieces as art objects divorced from context and culture, curator Hadley Jensen aims to go beyond the traditional gallery experience to reveal the entire interconnected ecosystem of textile production, illuminating the social and cultural perspectives underlying the craft. From the practical considerations of plant dyes and wool harvesting to the songs, stories, and traditions that enhance and inform the art of weaving, the exhibit examines the ways that weavers interact with nature, their communities, and the land. Visitors will also gain perspective on the evolution of specific motifs and techniques that took place as Navajo craftspeople traded knowledge with Hispanic and Pueblo communities. In addition to the physical exhibition on New York City’s Upper West Side, Shaped by the Loom incorporates innovative digital storytelling methods, offering an online gallery with interactive elements that will expand access to anyone with an internet connection. With 360-degree views of Navajo Nation land and audio recordings from the field, the site immerses viewers directly in the landscapes that gave rise to the textiles on display.

Also in the BGC Gallery through July 9, 2023, Staging the Table in Europe 1500–1800 explores the dining customs documented in a selection of illustrated handbooks from the 16th and 17th centuries. According to curator Deborah L. Krohn, associate professor and chair of academic programs at BGC and a leading expert on culinary culture from this period, these volumes provided advice including “instruction on expertly carving meats and fruits, folding napkins into animal forms, performing tableside magic tricks, and creating tablescapes for courtly banquets.” Though the manuals were published in different countries, there is significant overlap in their content, suggesting that norms of etiquette and culinary performance became a shared language circulated across early modern European borders. To help visitors imagine these lavish practices, the exhibition features period examples of tableware and a slate of special events, including demonstrations by a master napkin folder and a sugar sculptor.

Threads of Power, which closed January 1, 2023, followed lace across the centuries, tracing the delicate web it weaves through politics, class, religion, gender, and technology. The exhibition marked the United States debut of more than 150 examples of lace from the extensive collection of the Textilmuseum St. Gallen in Switzerland. In the 16th century, lace was created by trained artisans and upper-class women, who had the time to hone their skills and develop their own patterns as a hobby. Since it was both expensive and relatively rare, lace was used primarily in clothing for elite royals and fabrics for the church, which used finery like velvet and silk to convey divinity. But as the association between lace, wealth, and power grew, so did the textile’s desirability. In response to growing demand, the work of producing lace soon fell to poor and rural women, who labored long hours in harsh conditions for little pay. The advent of machine-made lace in the early 1800s upended the industry, decimating the handmade-lace economies of Britain and France and opening the market up to middle-class buyers. By the end of the century, a new technique called “chemical lace” simplified the process even further, creating cheap and plentiful embellishment at a pace that could respond to shifting trends in fashion. Visitors were able to explore this complex and fascinating history right up to modern day laser-cut and 3D-printed lace and enjoy live demonstrations of lace-making via a collaboration with Brooklyn Lace Guild.