PRAIRIE INTERLACE: WEAVING, MODERNISMS, AND THE EXPANDED FRAME, 1960–2000, MICHELE HARDY, TIMOTHY LONG AND JULIA KRUEGER (EDS) (2023)
Author: Nithikul Nimkulrat
book review, 2024
Prairie Interlace: Weaving, Modernisms, and the Expanded Frame, 1960–2000 explores innovative textile-based art on the Canadian Prairies (Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba provinces) in the second half of the twentieth century, focusing on weaving and other interlace practices, such as rug hook-ing, macrame, knitting and crochet. It examines how weaving, traditionally seen as a craft, intersected with and contributed to modernist art practices, thus challenging the boundaries between art and craft. Prairie Interlace also reflects on the factors causing the rise and fall of the textile movement during the time. The book follows the exhibition Prairie Interlace that took place from December 2022 to February 2024 in four different locations across the Canada Prairies, including Nickle Galleries in Calgary, Alberta; Mann Art Gallery in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan; Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba in Brandon, Manitoba; and MacKenzie Art Gallery in Regina, Saskatchewan. The book and accompanying exhibition contribute to the positioning of the regional craft histories in the national and international contexts in the period of the transitioning from modernism to postmodernism and the emergence of fibre art education in the region, such as Alberta College of Art (now AUArts).
Suggested Citation: Nimkulrat, N. (2024). Book Review of Prairie Interlace: Weaving, Modernisms, and the Expanded Frame, 1960–2000, edited by Michele Hardy, Timothy Long, and Julia Krueger. Craft Research 15(2), 347–354. https://doi.org/10.1386/crre_00139_5.