After the success of its most recent exhibition the Cowra Regional Art Gallery will be presenting “War and Pieced: The Annette Gero Collection of Quilts from Military Fabrics” in February.
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The blockbuster exhibition has just returned from New York and is a unique showcase of spectacularly complex geometric quilts made from military fabrics.
Once termed “soldiers’ quilts” or “convalescent quilts”, the pieced textiles in this exhibition are associated with World War I and World War II as well as the late eighteenth century, conflicts in India, South Africa and wars during the nineteenth century.
The visual virtuosity of the quilts, often incorporating many thousands of pieces no larger than 2–3 centimetres square, assumes a deeper emotional resonance as we consider them within the matrix of war and its aftermath. As works of art, they demonstrate that something beautiful can be an outcome of war.
There are only about 100 known in the world and no one knows why these quilts were made or what they were used for, or why the patterns are so visually extraordinary.
Dr Annette Gero will also present a special talk at the exhibitions launch describing how she found the quilts in this exhibition and the history of these visually stunning quilts.
Dr Gero, one of Australia's leading quilt historians, has been documenting and collecting quilts since 1982.
She gained her PhD in 1982 and in 1986 she was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society for Arts (London) in recognition of her work on Australian quilt history.
She has travelled all over Australia curating exhibitions of Australian quilts and documenting quilts in private homes and public collections.
The exhibition will be on display at the Cowra Regional Art Gallery from February 23 to April 28.
The exhibition talk with Dr Gero will be held at Cowra Civic Centre theatrette on February 23 from 2pm to 3pm.
Tickets are $10pp ($5 Friends of the Gallery, membership card must be shown at the door) and are available from the Cowra Visitor Centre by calling 6342 4333 or at trybooking.com
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