The event, held every three years at Łódź's Central Museum of Textiles, is widely regarded as the world’s largest and oldest showcase focusing on contemporary textile art.
This year's program features artists from 42 countries and spans large-scale tapestries, room-sized installations and experimental works that cross into design, new media, and technology.
The main exhibition runs under the theme Deconstruction/Reconstruction.
“Łódź has been a place for half a century where artists from around the world use textiles to speak about the present,” said Marzena Wiśniak, deputy director of the Central Museum of Textiles.
“We all feel that faster and more is no longer the answer, that we need a different idea for the world. That intuition is shared, as shown by more than 1,600 submissions we received this year.”
Curators Marta Kowalewska and Bukola Oyebode-Westerhuis said the exhibition is organized into three groups of works.
One looks to the past and addresses difficult histories tied to colonialism and today’s conflicts. Another focuses on community and on giving voice to groups that have lacked it. A third examines textile materiality, treating fabric as a language and a system of codes.
A companion show at Łódź’s Art Propaganda Center, titled Rhizomatic Portals: Paths of Knowing, spotlights women artists from various African countries.
Oyebode-Westerhuis said the presentation centers women’s creativity and stresses the value of women’s labor, experience and knowledge.
Technology is part of this year’s program. Weaving Intelligence, an installation by internationally known artist Agnieszka Pilat, brings an autonomous Boston Dynamics robot nicknamed Basia into the museum.
Under the artist’s control, Basia will attempt live tufting, a technique that produces a raised pile on fabric, to create a spatial tapestry in view of visitors.
The piece invites reflection on the place of people in an automated world and on the role of art in the age of artificial intelligence.
The triennial traces its origins to 1975, when then-director Krystyna Kondratiuk launched the first edition at the museum. Kondratiuk was a prominent art historian and curator in the city.
Organizers say the anniversary is a moment to consider the event’s mission, which spans both the preservation of textile traditions and engagement with the newest currents in contemporary art.
The main and accompanying exhibitions open on Saturday at 11 a.m. in Łódź. Winners of the triennial awards will be announced at 2 p.m.
The program includes guided tours, artist talks, performances, debates and educational workshops.
Deconstruction/Reconstruction remains on view through April 12, 2026.
(rt/gs)
Source: PAP