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Inabel and indigo — textile as painting
I've been thinking about this for years, and I want to open it up to the Lounge: can textile be read as painting?
Inabel — the traditional weave of Ilocos — has always been classified as craft. But when you look at the compositions closely, they follow the same principles as abstract painting: rhythm, repetition, variation, tension between figure and ground.
The indigo dyeing process adds another layer. The dyer doesn't fully control the result — the cloth 'decides' how much dye to absorb based on its weave density. This feels closer to how paint behaves on canvas than to how craft is supposed to work.
I'm preparing an exhibition that treats inabel as painting. I'd love feedback on the premise before I commit to the wall text.
Replies
3RS
Rafael Soriano1d
The premise is strong, but I'd push it further. Don't just say 'textile can be read as painting' — ask why we separated them in the first place. The division is colonial. Spanish-era academies taught 'fine art' (painting, sculpture) as European, and everything else as 'native craft.' Your exhibition could undo that.
HM
Haruko Mendoza20h
In Japan, we have a similar tension between mingei (folk craft) and bijutsu (fine art). Yanagi Sōetsu tried to dissolve it, but the hierarchy persists. Your approach — treating the textile itself as the evidence — feels more honest than theoretical argument.
BL
Ben Legaspi16h
I face the same question with sculpture made from scrap. Is it 'fine art' or is it 'recycled material'? The answer depends entirely on the room it's shown in. Your exhibition changes the room. That's enough.
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