Upcoming Exhibits

From Combat to Carpet: The Art of Afghan War Rugs

January 12, 2020 - August 30, 2020

The Museum of International Folk Art (MOIFA) presents From Combat to Carpet: The Art of Afghan War Rugs, opening January 12, 2020 and running until August 30, 2020. From Combat to Carpet is a traveling exhibition curated by Enrico Mascelloni and Annemarie Sawkins and features more than 40 handwoven rugs with war-related iconography collected over the past forty years.

Sewing Stories of Displacement 2/16/20 – 9/27/20

February 16, 2020 - September 27, 2020

Throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, moments of violence, political upheaval, and natural disaster have led to the displacement of entire communities. Since the 1960s, displaced people throughout the world—women, men, and children—have embroidered the stories of their forced migrations, new transitions, and memories of more stable lives. Through these textiles, they have been able to document their experiences, share their perspectives, and often, supplement their income during desperate times.

The Train Station, 1979. This gabba, chain-stitched embroidery on felted wool, illustrates the forced migration of Kahuta residents after the area became a site for the national atomic bomb project in 1976. Unknown artist, Pakistan. MOIFA, IFAF Collection, FA.1985.464.13.

Dressing with Purpose: Belonging and Resistance in Scandinavia

December 13, 2020 - February 13, 2022

Dressing with Purpose examines three dress traditions today—Swedish folkdräkt, Norwegian bunad, and Sámi gákti—in light of more than two centuries of social and political change across Scandinavia.