The public is cordially invited to celebrate the opening of Quilts of Southwest China. Enjoy artist demonstrations, and a reception.
Chinese quilts have received little attention from scholars, collectors, or museums. The examples featured here offer an introduction based on new research by a bi-national consortium of American and Chinese museums, including participation by the Museum of International Folk Art. Embodying layers of history, identity, and expertise, these quilts reveal new insights into the contemporary lives of minority communities adapting to a period of great change in China.
In southwest China, traditional bed coverings, clothing, and household items have long been made from patched and appliqued scraps to create artistic and functional textiles. A bi-national consortium of American and Chinese museums has worked together to document and research these quilts, an art form little known outside certain ethnic minority communities. Although the making and using of these quilts have declined, a surge of renewed interest among scholars, artists, and locals is leading to growing efforts to study the textiles and the skills needed to continue making them.
FREE ADMISSION is sponsored by the Sangre de Cristo Needlepointers.
This exhibit is sponsored by The Henry Luce Foundation. Additional support comes from the International Folk Art Foundation; the Museum of New Mexico Foundation and donors to the Exhibitions Development Fund; and the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation. Project partners include Yunnan Nationalities Museum (Kunming, Yunnan, China); Anthropology Museum of Guangxi (Nanning, Guangxi, China); Guizhou Nationalities Museum (Guiyang, Guizhou, China); Michigan State University Museum (East Lansing, Michigan, USA); Mathers Museum of World Cultures, Indiana University (Bloomington, Indiana, USA); the International Quilt Study Center and Museum, University of Nebraska-Lincoln (Lincoln, Nebraska, USA); the American Folklore Society; and the Chinese Folklore Society.
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