In this iteration of The Art in Life, Kluge-Ruhe and The Fralin Museum of Art explored the art of textiles. They're all around us in our clothing, on our beds, tables and furniture... and there are brilliant artists who designed and made them. We featured three perspectives:
• Diane Kappa, pattern designer and founder of Diane Kappa Designs, an internationally recognized surface design company
• Kieren Karritjpul, textile designer and printer at Merrepen Arts and winner of Best Textile Design in Australia's National Indigenous Fashion Awards
• Mili Suleman, textile designer and founder of KUFRI, a textile design firm that champions the art of handloom weaving
“There is no distinction for us between art and life,” said Yolngu Aboriginal Australian artist Wandjuk Marika. This proclamation draws attention to the arbitrary distinctions we often make in western cultures between “fine art” and “craft,” “design” and other often-unhelpful labels. As museums, we actively work to break down such distinctions. As museum professionals, we are aesthetically minded people who see art all around us. And, as a global community, many of us are still finding ourselves unable to visit the “fine art” institutions we love most. Because of all of these factors and more, the Fralin Museum of Art at UVA and the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of UVA have partnered to present THE ART IN LIFE, a series of programs that explore the artistic creativity, innovation, challenges and aesthetic decisions of practices that usually aren’t considered fine art.