Textilien im globalen Kontext

Birgit Haehnel Textiles in the Global ContextOur issue on textiles in the global context links a critical gender perspective with a critical postcolonial perspective. The stubborn refusal of European cultural institutions to acknowledge textiles in art as worthy material concerns not only definitions of gender, but also a colonial heritage dating from an age when Europe defined its leading role in civilisation in terms of painting. The return to old weaving techniques and printed fabrics from various culturess serves as an aesthetic resource for critical reflections on gender identity, (colonial) history, and processes of racialisation. Interestingly, postcolonial artists use white cloths to metaphorically stage the dominance of white norms and values, and to render whiteness both visible and criticisable (Haehnel: DFG Research Project, TU Darmstadt). The heterogeneity of the interdisciplinary contributions to this issue plainly reveal the pressing need for further research