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Exhibition DescriptionsSeptember 2000
Having been involved with embroidery for many years I view exhibitions these days with some irony. For so long embroiderers were struggling to be regarded on a par with artists; now a visit begs the question: how much embroidery will I actually see? My experience is that Textile Art in many cases refers to paint on a fabric, minus any form of stitchery. So, for the sake of all those folk who live in far-flung areas of the country where it is necessary to travel hundreds of miles to view, please can we have some honesty? 'Mixed media' is an honest statement and would not lead anyone to expect to see 'embroidery' and therefore be disappointed if there was none. Please, exhibitors, think about the costs of a round trip of perhaps 400 miles, possibly the visitor having to find overnight accommodation (as was the case for one of my colleagues because of viewing times) and ask: If I want to show my work should I really be putting it in under the heading of Textile Art or just Art?
I am not denigrating the work, but I am so relieved that I had not organised a group visit entailing six hours' driving and a lot of mileage to find very little embroidery in a recent Textile Art exhibition. Perhaps the debate needs to be re-opened to ask: have we gone full circle?
Sally Chater