Kärt Ojavee “Episodes 1, 2, 3 and 8”

What makes one fabric precious and another worthless? The importance of a piece of fabric is determined not only by the number of man-hours spent or the rarity of the material, but also by the way we value it. But what makes the value assigned depend on the fiber material, the textile technology or the color? However, the assigned or inherent value can in turn determine the course of world history. The desire of Europe’s upper classes for comfortable cotton and smooth silk was one of the forces that helped capitalism to become a global economic system and that encouraged European countries to colonize Asia, Africa and America. What are the qualities that allow one piece of white fabric to imply peace and goodwill in some places, abundance and supremacy in another, and to be used as a bridal coin, a bombshell, or simply a towel elsewhere? In the exhibition “Episodes 1, 2, 3 and 8”, three pieces of fabric with very different purposes are woven together, thus losing their social distinction and bringing them back to their original fabric state.

Kärt Ojavee is a designer, artist and lecturer, in whose work modern technological innovations and textile art meet, to the practical and theoretical development of which the artist contributes in various ways. In recent collaborative projects, she has also worked in the field of costume and performing arts. In 2013, Ojavee defended her doctoral dissertation on “Active Smart Interior Textiles” at the Estonian Academy of Arts.

Accompanying texts: Gustav Kalm Exhibition design: White Cube Graphic Design: Margus Tamm Thanks: Icelandic Textile Center, EAA Textile Design Department, Eva-Liisa Kriis, Jennifer Wilson, Juhan Ulfsak, ​​Juulia Aleksandra Mikson.