Final Report Summary - TEXTILE (An Iconology of the Textile in Art and Architecture)
Public, artistic, and scholarly interest in textiles as medium, material, technology, and metaphor has increased significantly in the domain of the arts and of art history in the past decade, judging from recent art historical research projects and publications. At the same time, in an age of global art and economy, textiles have gained an important presence in mass culture. The project directly addressed this multifaceted material and the symbolical meanings of the textile medium. As such, it touched upon related core concepts such as fabric, transparency, flexibility, opacity, veiling, clothing, canvas, network, ornament, or skin, specific to this artistic material. Thus, the project explored the universality of textile themes and techniques in paintings, sculptures, installations, and videos, ranging from the Middle Ages to the contemporary period. Taking into account such subthemes as for example the myths of the origins of the textile medium, gender specificities, or spatial meanings, the field of research themes extended the traditional scope of investigations on the textile, treated as cultural phenomenon in the field of craftsmanship. Moreover, textiles are everyday-life objects and thus open the door to a theme accessible to an audience crossing cultures and social backgrounds. Thus, the project was able to share contemporary scientific and cultural concerns and debates with a greater number of people interested in material culture, applied and fine arts, or working as designers and architects. During the lifetime of the project, several monographs and dissertations as well as numerous articles were written and published. Since the project aimed also at strengthening the scientific dialogue and the social competences within the interdisciplinary research community, several networks and exchange platforms were established by the means of conferences, workshops, expert meetings, excursions, research stays, and guest presentations.