" SOFT POWER stems from a desire to spatialize the synthesis of a doctoral research project conducted between 2007 and 2012 at Bordeaux 3 University. The thesis, which focuses on contemporary textile practices, moves away from the functional and decorative dimensions of textile materials in favor of an analysis of their critical, poetic, and political significance.

The specific interest in textile materials originates from an analysis of Frida Kahlo’s work, particularly her political use of Tehuana dresses—garments from the Indigenous and matriarchal community in Mexico, through which the artist asserted a political space as a non-Western female artist.

"The physical and intimate qualities of fabric allow it to embody memory, emotion, and become the quintessential metaphor for the human condition."

Clothing, and by extension textile material, thus becomes a medium for struggles and affirmations. In the late 1960s, feminist artists critically reclaimed practices and techniques traditionally confined to their condition as women to, as Aline Dallier wrote, "help unravel the established order." Embroidery, sewing, crochet, knitting, and quilting became fully recognized artistic practices.

These struggles continue to evolve and shift, as does the visibility and reception of textile practices, which today benefit from less binary interpretations. They resist various forms of domination and hierarchy.

"Textiles create a rupture around and through the notions of amateurism, art, and craftsmanship, throwing the words themselves into crisis—akin to an identity crisis." [3]

From the deconstruction of masculinities to class struggles, from the empowerment of representational modes to the displacement of ancestral craft practices, artists weave their histories, experiences, and critical approaches into threads and fibers."

- Excerpt from the foreword of the exhibition's.

Photos courtesy of the Transpalette Contemporary Art Center & curator Julie Crenn (Crédits photos /// Dorian Degoutte)