This morning i went to visit the v&a to see the Quilts exhibition as part of my research for my FMP. Amazing exhibition it was huge with so much to see. It was divided into 5 sections accross 2 rooms and went from old to more modern and new but it just so happened it worked out like that as the headings they were put under related more to that quilt. Is it bad to say when you have seen one patchwork you have seen them all?? personally i dont think its that bad but if you do oh well, they all have their beauty but when every little old lady is scrambling over to see the quilts and then a man kicks one and one of those really loud annoying people that every museum has to have tells the world her life story it made me want to fly around the older quilts just to get away. The older half of the nation and im talking 60+ dont like the modern contemporary quilts some of which had been done specifically for the exhibition whereas i did so thats where i spent most of my time taking notes and trying to get away.
My favourite? dont think i could choose but i have 2, one done by inmates in wandsworth prison which was accompanied by a video of why it was made, each inmate giving a talk about what they did and how they felt about doing it. Very heart wrenching and that drew the crowds more than anything in the exhbition it was also a very tear jerking piece when studied closely as it used very strong words "thats my chick" "cant wait to go home" "bail" "i didnt do it guv" "check my record" each picture had been done with such care and detail.
My other favourite was a competition done accross art schools and the winner was a girl cant remember her name but have written it down to make reference in my sketchbook . She concentrated on the effects of textiles and poverty and the relationship between the two by studying horrifying images she found on the UNIcef website. Her final quilt had distorted images of children on a plain linen like material but she had kept every thread and not cut anything off so each child had thread hanging from their body that draped down the walls of the V&A, quite a disturbing piece one not many people stopped to look at. Amazing ideas and fantastic quilt i really loved it. Just noticed while i wrote this it wasnt the big artists or the old quilts i liked its the modern ones done by real people in real situations about real life things that we are living in today.
Definately worth a visit!!! try to go very early or very late...
and one last thought i felt a textile exhibition should have some sort of touch element to it allthough i understand the quilts are old and precious i wanted to touch and handle them.
Peace
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