Chinese patchwork: ancient origins, new expressions

Abstract

Patchwork has a long history in China, tracing its roots back almost two thousand years to the arrival of Buddhism in the region. Across millennia, a thread can be traced from spiritual practitioners embracing patchwork textiles to their use in secular culture, eventually leading to a form of functional domestic decoration -- and an outlet for artistic ingenuity -- that continues in parts of China's countryside today. The first ever book on the subject, Chinese Patchwork explores the creativity of twentieth- and twenty-first-century Chinese makers who stitch fabric remnants into functional, decorative, and auspicious textiles for their homes and family. This volume includes stunning reproductions of lively and colorful patchwork objects, accompanied by scholarly essays about the tradition and history of the art form, and interviews with makers. Photographs of works in situ by American photographer Lois Conner beautifully illustrate the art form's bold visual presence.

Contents

Director's foreword / Pierre Terjanian -- Preface / Dorothy Ko -- Stumbling onto beauty -- Patchwork and piety -- Beyond the monastery -- New times, new meanings -- Patchworks in place / photographs by Lois Conner -- Patterns and improvisations -- Picking up the pieces.