The Central Museum of Textiles in Łódź is pleased to announce the 18th edition of the International Triennial of Textile. The 18th edition marks fifty years since the Triennial was founded in 1975 in Łódź, Poland. Since then, the Triennial has remained one of the world’s premier events connected with the medium of textiles.
The theme of the Triennial’s 18th edition is “Deconstruction/Reconstruction”.
Although the curatorial framework of “Deconstruction/Reconstruction” targets the current state of the world and the push and pull between the old order and the strong need to form new systems, it also corresponds with new developments and changes within the Triennial.
For the first time, the event will have two curators: Marta Kowalewska and Bukola Oyebode Westerhuis. Kowalewska, the chief curator at CMWŁ, was the curator of the 16th and 17th editions of the Triennial while Oyebode-Westerhuis, a Nigerian curator and editor based in Amsterdam, is joining the international event for the first time. Together, they will work with an international jury and the Triennial’s programme board on the 18th edition. In addition to this development, the name of the Triennial will from this edition become the International Triennial of Textile, a change signalling the organiser’s understanding of the current times.
What does “Deconstruction/Reconstruction” mean?
From Europe to the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and South America, armed conflicts are escalating and the death tolls are unimaginable. On the one hand, lives, places, and cultures are being obliterated, and it seems as if the people are powerless. But on the other hand, there are pushbacks against old and new colonising schemes and ethnofascist ideologies as people demand their rights to self-determination and an equitable
world. Propelled by a strong need for change, systems and structures built over centuries are being questioned, transformed, or rejected. All forms of injustice are being criticised. Simplistic notions of gender and gender roles are being splintered and expanded. Resistance to the algorithm and our over-dependence on automation technologies are on the rise. There is a desire to get to the sources of what has been destroyed in the quest for globalisation and universal order.
In the framework of this Triennial, the curators propose deconstruction as breaking down and tearing apart, embracing a critical disorder, questioning and disturbing the order of modern society, rethinking old systems, and subjecting the modern world achievements to scrutiny. They conceive of reconstruction as a means to new possibilities, multiple pathways to restoration and repair, creating new systems to co-exist, finding new ways of being, looking back to erased traditions that can still benefit humanity, and imagining ways that our world can evolve from a state of endless violence.
Unlike other materials, textile is a capacious metaphor for a wide range of processes and discourse. In the practices of contemporary art, using textiles conceptually, materially, or technically runs parallel to how the world is questioning old orders, beliefs, and schemes. Therefore, the curators and the Central Museum of Textiles in Łódź are calling on contemporary artists of different generations, genders, and nationalities utilising textiles, textile methodology, or interweaving textiles with new media practices to propose and submit work corresponding to the ideas of deconstruction or reconstruction within the current world’s complex social, political, and economic systems and all those experiences that fall in between.
Image courtesy of Central Museum of Textiles in Łód
The call for entries officially begins from 17 October 2024 until 31 January 2025. From the submissions, the curators will select works qualifying for the main exhibition and the list of qualifying entries will be published on the CMWŁ website no later than 24 March 2025. Thereafter, an international jury will select the winners for the 18th ITT prize which will be announced on the day of the event’s opening, 18 October 2025. The top award, a Gold Medal, comes with €10,000 in prize money.
The 18th International Triennial of Textile will open in autumn 2025 – exactly 50 years since the first international edition.
SUBMISSIONS (KEY INFORMATION)
Eligible participants: Individual artists and artists groups from around the world Form: Submitted works must relate conceptually or formally to the medium of textile and reflect the 18th ITT’s theme of “Deconstruction/Reconstruction”.
Attention:
● Each individual or group may submit a portfolio consisting of available works produced within the last five years, from which the curators may select one work to take part in the exhibition. It is also permitted, as in previous editions, to submit only a single work.
● The round-trip cost of transporting the qualifying works is covered by the Central Museum of Textiles in Łódź.
A submitted portfolio must contain:
● A current colour photograph of the artist;
● Contact information: name and surname, city and country of birth/residence, telephone number, e-mail address, date of birth;
● A bio of the artist not exceeding 2000 characters with spaces;
● Colour photographs of the works, shown against a neutral background and presented in a manner similar to their planned presentation in the exhibition. Each work must be labelled with a title, year of production, technique and materials, dimensions, and a short conceptual description.
Application form and correspondence languages: Polish and English.
The open call application rules and regulations along with the complete curatorial preamble on the theme and new regulations of the 18th edition of the International Triennial of Textile are available at www.cmwl.pl (in the Triennial section).
For all inquiries about the application, please contact: triennial18@cmwl.pl
