Art That Connects
Threads dancing on screens, scenographic installations that provoke all the senses, photographs interwoven with textile structures, as well as tapestries evoking painterly canvases. From February 10, Danubiana Meulensteen Art Museum will transform into a space filled with colors, ideas, and stories woven from threads. This transformation is brought about by the seventh edition of the international exhibition Textile Art of Today, which for nearly 20 years has connected artists from different corners of the world.
As the festival director Andrej Augustín states, “as in previous editions, this exhibition is not only about the beauty of fabrics and craftsmanship. Contemporary textile art opens up themes that concern us all – identity, memory, the environment, as well as social justice.” Thanks to modern technologies such as digital embroidery, optical fibers, and interactive surfaces, the artworks become “living” objects that respond to light or the movement of the viewer.
Today, textile art can be found in some of the world’s most prestigious galleries – from MoMA in New York, through Tate Modern in London, to LACMA in Los Angeles. Once perceived as marginal, it now stands at the center of attention as an equal partner to painting and sculpture.
The central motto “Art That Connects” expresses the idea of linking cultures, generations, and values. The exhibition presents works by 50 artists from 16 EU countries, whose creations reflect the principles of dignity, freedom, equality, and human rights. After its successful premiere at Hlohovec Castle, the exhibition sets out with an ambitious goal: to shift the perception of classical textile art toward a reflection of the contemporary world—marked by modern technologies and by artistic responses to global as well as local issues of today.
Ľudovít Petránsky
Curator of the Exhibition
Awards at the 7th Edition of Textile Art of Today
Božena Augustínová Grand Prix – Main Award of the 7th Textile Art of Today
- WŁODZIMIERZ CYGAN (Poland) for the works Viruses, 3 Elements and Homage to Antoni Starczewski
Excellent Award – for an outstanding artistic achievement in the author’s social engagement addressing pressing contemporary issues
- RADOSLAVA HRABOVSKÁ (Slovakia) for the work Contours of Fear
Excellent Award – for an aesthetically compelling and artistically inventive realization
- MIROSLAV BROOŠ (Slovakia) for the work Donation… of Land XV from the cycle Transferring the Land
Excellent Award – for exceptional craftsmanship in a specific field of textile art
- ANNIE VERHOEVEN (Netherlands) for the work Diptych Gold I and II
