Textiles Areal
Opening on July 8, 2023 at 2 p.m. as part of the Summer Festival 2023

Welcome: Claudia Schwidrik-Grebe, head of the cultural department of the city of Marl
Introduction: Georg Elben, Director of the Skulpturenmuseum Marl

Textiles have been an important commodity in everyday human culture for centuries. Whether in clothing, medical bandages for injuries or the hammock in the garden - it is present in almost all areas of our everyday life. With their supposedly always soft surface, they enclose shapes and bodies, provide security, protection and security. At the same time, textile fabric has the potential to withstand extreme resistance, such as wind and weather on a sailing ship, and make it manageable for people, especially when using artificial fibers. Density and material properties determine the durability of the robust fabric - which, however, can also become invincible and unpredictable for the human body.
As an artistic material, however, textiles have long been controversial. It has always enjoyed selective popularity, for example in the textile workshop of the State Bauhaus in Dessau, from which Anni Albers, among others, emerged as one of the most well-known textile and weaving artists. Nevertheless, for a long time textile work was considered traditionally female craftsmanship and to this day only has limited recognition as an independent and diverse material, even in specialist circles.

With the Textiles Areal exhibition, the Marl Sculpture Museum is now bringing together three striking positions in contemporary art that are re-examining the limits of textiles as a material in the artistic exhibition context. In doing so, they uniformly detach themselves from the expectations of the material, form new (experiential) spaces and still maintain their individual differences. Together they propagate a new encounter with textiles and challenge the museum public to develop a new sensitivity for artistic material in the 21st century.

The opening of the exhibition will take place as part of this year's summer festival. With summer temperatures, we invite you to the museum terrace behind the museum next Saturday, July 8, 2023 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. with cold drinks, food and a scoop of ice cream. After a welcome from the head of the culture department, Claudia Schwidrik-Grebe, museum director Georg Elben introduces the exhibition. The festival will then be accompanied by music from Dennis Woller (guitar) and Laura Schulte Sasse (saxophone).