Textiles: The Art of Mankind

Aleppo artisans, Sidriyeh (detail), c. 1860-70.

Textiles: The Art of Mankind celebrates the ancient and deep entanglement between textiles, people and our world. Through the beauty of textiles, you will encounter human ingenuity that can be traced from pre-history to our digital age.

Textiles reveal the human desire to engage with texture and colour, record histories, thoughts and feelings, and preserve skills to hand down generations. Across the globe, they carry sacred significance, express our cultural regard for animals, while other’s symbolise life’s mysteries.

Told through themes spanning materials, identity, collaboration, and sustainability, Textiles: The Art Mankind explores how craft and creativity connects society. This is a rare chance to see objects never before exhibited in the UK; a vibrant textile from Panama depicting a mermaid to represent fertility, a stunning wall hanging reflecting on Sardinia’s history of occupation, or an ingenious ceremonial bag shaped like a human hand suggesting a welcome gesture.

Malagasy weaver, Lamba akotifhana, ca. 1900.