The theme of this year’s Textile Biennial at Museum Rijswijk is Images of Power.
It forces both the artists and the curators to find a balance between form and content.
Almost anything goes as long as the form is made of textile, but what does this mean for the content of the works?
In which works are the use of textiles essential for the content, in other words: to what extent is the material part of the message?
In the case of this exhibition one could conclude that Images of Power by Fransje Killaars is the best example of an almost perfect fusion of material and meaning in all its facets.
On the other hand one might doubt the use of the textiles in melanie bonajo’s Progress vs Sunsets – Re-formulating the Nature Documentary as essential for what it has to say.
Bonajo has made other works with a more obvious textile meaning.
Also, in a group exhibition how and where the works are presented is crucial to their form and content.
In the case of this show the presentation in the so-called Grote zaal (Great Hall) could easily be seen as an exhibition in its own right, and a very good one at that.
The works are by Julia Winter, Fransje Killaars, Mary Sibande, Marcos Kueh, Emma Talbot and Gluklya.
Taken together they function as altars or installations for salvation from and incantation of the everyday expressions of power in our lives and morals.
As such they are more than images of power, their combination is more than just the sum of their parts.
Of course, apart from the Great Hall, the museum has its spatial limitations.
This works well for the works by Jan Kath and by Rah Naqvi, who both have their own spaces.
For future editions it might be an idea to extend the biennial outside the museum, which would create new opportunities for participating artists, and the manifestation could find a new audience outside the current walls of its ivory tower.
But for now, the exhibition offers an interesting panorama of how artists are stitching the powers that be in their right place.
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© Villa Next Door 2023
Contents of all photographs courtesy to all artists and to Museum Rijswijk, Rijswijk
Bertus Pieters
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