Lecture at the Weltkulturen Museum, Frankfurt

Artist Sarah Browne, Co-representer of Ireland at the 53rd Venice Biennale, discusses her recent work in Ireland and the Shetland Islands, focusing on the historical relationship between textiles, computing technologies and communication systems. This presen­tation will also address the position of the artist in relation to critical ethnography and the representation of invisible or perishable labour. This talk is a parallel event to the exhibition UNROLLED AND UNRAVELLED: New Views of the Indonesian Textiles Collection (on view until 1st June 2014).

The Weltkulturen Museum holds an extensive collection of Indonesian textiles that have not been displayed for a very long time. Previously kept rolled up in the stores for reasons of conservation, some of these textiles are now being made accessible to the public again. The exceptional textiles are not only testimonies to outstanding craftsmanship, but also vehicles for coded messages. Much like barcodes, those messages also need to be deciphered.

The exhibition in the Weltkulturen Labor aims to test out different ways of reading the textiles. Rather than presenting finished results, UNROLLED AND UNRAVELLED offers insights into research ongoing in the museum, and raises new questions. What are the structures or grammar woven into the fabrics? Can the textiles be translated into other art forms? What knowledge was communicated through these fabrics? Are there continuities or analogies with local, national and global phenomena? And what meanings do the textiles generate?

UNROLLED AND UNRAVELLED marks the beginning of a long-term process of thinking about the textiles in the Weltkulturen Museum, which will culminate in 2016 with a large supraregional exhibition.

In parallel with the exhibition, the outcomes of the research can also be accessed by the public at www.weltkulturen-openlab.com

Curator: Vanessa von Gliszczynski, Research Curator, Southeast Asia

Curator’s guided tours on Saturday, 26th April, Tuesday, 6th May, Saturday 24th May and Tuesday, 27th May at 3pm

Exhibition admission: €3 / reduced €1.50

Lecture in English. Admission €5 / reduced €2.50

Weltkulturen Labor, Schaumainkai 37
Tuesdays–Sundays, 11am – 6pm, Wednesdays 11am – 8pm

www.weltkulturenmuseum.de