ABSTRACT
The Quilt as Art: An Examination of the Revival of
Quiltmaking in Manitoba
C. Wall Tanchyk
1990
1971 was the watershed year for widespread recognition of
quiltmaking. In the United States, the Whitney Museum hosted an exhibition of historic
quilts, and in Canada, Joyce Wieland displayed quilts of her own design within her mixed
media show, True Patriot Love, at the National Gallery of Canada. Both of these
exhibitions opened on July Ist.
The following year, the Winnipeg Art Gallery presented the
survey exhibition, Contemporary Quilts and Ceramics. The Seventies was an important decade
for quilt revival. Quiltmaking, in both its traditional and innovative applications, once
again emerged across North America. Not only did this period of time foster appreciation
for the craft, but after several decades of neglect, it was once again commanding
recognition: as a cultural artifact and as an art object.
Within the Province of Manitoba, quiltmaking became an
important medium for art makers. Some individuals found that the quilted fabric was an
ideal way to address both sculptural and drawing problems. By the late Seventies,
quiltmaking offered an alternative art form for many women.
During the Eighties, numerous quiltmakers would attempt to
push the medium to its plastic limits; counter-balanced by those who wished to remain more
firmly connected to tradition. The underlying philosophical and aesthetic principles were
important as contemporary quiltmaking was pluralistic in nature. Consideration must be
given to the motivations of the practitioners.
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