From the Museum of Fine Arts Boston: "In rural Chinese villages today, women are creating dynamic patchwork textiles, as their mothers and grandmothers did before them. This art form, which evolved from ancient Buddhist and Daoist customs of monks dressing in patched rags to project a sense of humility, is rooted in practicality, with the fabrics serving as bed and window covers, door curtains, and children’s clothing. The vibrant abstract compositions demonstrate creativity and fine artistic sensibilities that flourish far beyond the borders of established Chinese art canons."
"Upending expectations about quilt displays—traditionally organized by region, form, or motif — “Fabric of a Nation: American Quilt Stories” is a loosely chronological presentation in seven thematic sections that voices multiple perspectives. Visitors see and hear from artists, educators, academics, and activists, and the remarkable examples on view are by an underrecognized diversity of artistic hands and minds from the 17th century to today."
(Quilt Photo: Harriet Powers, Pictorial Quilt, 1895-98)