Fold Unfold was a juried exhibition curated by Jessica Smith, Professor of Fibers at Savannah College of Art and Design and Susan Falls, PhD, Professor of Anthropology at Savannah College of Art and Design.

"Coverlet weaving has a deep history in American folk practices, contains signifiers of political identity, and has carried both economic and cultural value. Geometric woven coverlets have been used as aesthetically pleasing family heirlooms. In this talk, we will discuss how the patterns created by an overshot woven structure prefigure Op Art, a movement that was derived from the constructivist period of the Bauhaus." - Smith and Falls, 2017

The coverlet, a wonderfully elaborate example of woven bedding, is lesser-known than the quilt when it comes to Southern material culture. These bed coverings are often devalued (viewed as castoffs) or romanticized (connected to mythical narratives about community and gift giving) rather than recognized as having provided real value to households. To address this oversight anthropologist Susan Falls and artist Jessica Smith are holding a call for weavers to participate in Fold Unfold. This contemporary art installation will explore coverlets from both an art-historical and museum perspectives, while challenging current aesthetic judgments that relegate coverlets to the realm of “craft” instead of “art.” 

Fold Unfold invited skilled makers to weave functional bedding on manually operated looms as part of the installation. Each coverlet was informed by overshot geometric patterning popular in the South. To undermine traditional signifiers of class and race, makers used a modernist color scheme of black, white, and gray. This neutrality draws attention to the hands of individual makers. 

The coverlets were folded and stacked to form two pillars in the Lyndon House Arts Center. One pillar stood at the entrance hall of the historic Ware-Lyndon House to connote the role southern women played in the aesthetic narrative of their landscape.  The second pillar in the contemporary Lukasiewicz Gallery united the historic with the contemporary. 

To reveal individual creative work, the pillars were be taken down and the coverlets unfolded in a public performance. The coverlets were then restacked at full size to form a minimalist contemporary sculpture. 

Each coverlet was professionally photographed and published in a downloadable catalog.

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE VISIT FoldUnfold   

For more information please call or email Beth Sale, 706 613 3623 x.226, beth.sale@accgov.com