Quilt #52 (Charlotte Charlaque), 2023

SOFT POWER

16.3. – 11.8.2024

This spring, DAS MINSK Kunsthaus in Potsdam will present the group exhibition Soft Power, which positions textile design as an artistic means of expression that can be employed to question power relations. The exhibition addresses various aspects of textile art in three chapters.

The chapter “Invisible Hands” focuses on the production conditions of textiles and their raw materials, including the history of the Leipzig-Lindenau cotton mill and VEB Vowetex in Plauen, among other examples. “Disrupting Patterns” is the title of the second chapter. Textile patterns are often based on the repetition of graphic structures, which typically originate from long traditions and can convey information about power hierarchies or status. The works presented in this chapter of the exhibition question existing patterns and relationships. The chapter “Ancestral Threads” traces the lines that connect us to the past. Just as individual threads can combine to form fabrics and larger networks, the historical and contemporary works in this chapter refer to past traditions that continue to have an effect today.

 

Soft Power shows works by Magdalena Abakanowicz, Caroline Achaintre, Wilder Alison, Leonor Antunes, Ouassila Arras, Rufina Bazlova, Mariana Chkonia, Toni Ebel, Gee’s Bend Quiltmakers (Ella Mae Irby, Candis Mosely Pettway, Qunnie Pettway), Philipp Gufler, William Kentridge, Maria Lai, Joanna Louca, Rosemary Mayer, Małgorzata Mirga-Tas, Sandra Mujinga, Gulnur Mukazhanova, Ramona Schacht, Gabriele Stötzer, Sung Tieu, Johanna Unzueta, Hamid Zénati, and others.

The exhibition is curated by Daniel Milnes.

DAS MINKS
MAX-PLANCK-STRASSE 17
14473 POTSDAM
GERMANY