40 years of QuiltArt - The Story of Quiltart

QuiltArt celebrates its fortieth anniversary this year with an exhibition entitled Layers & Narratives. This opened at the Museum de Kantafabriek in Horst, the Netherlands in January and will travel to several venues in Europe before coming to the UK in 2027.
The group was founded in Britain in 1985 to provide a forum for artists who wished to experiment with the quilt as an art form but who faced limited opportunities to show and sell their work. From the outset the group was international with both British and European members and today the artists, all leading practitioners, come from the UK, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and Hungary and one from the United States.

QuiltArt attracted attention back in the 1980s by working in an unfamiliar medium. At that time, the idea of quilts on gallery walls as works of art rather than as a covering for beds was a novelty. The group was the first of its kind in Europe and for several years remained the only one. Today there are numerous exhibiting textile groups and many more venues showing textile art. The internet, too, has hugely expanded the opportunities for work to be seen. So the challenge facing Quilt Art today is rather different: remaining distinctive in a textile art world that has blossomed around it.

The group mounts a major touring exhibition every two or three years, and often smaller exhibitions in between. Also for its fortieth birthday, there will be a travelling exhibition of small works, just 40 cm square, called Squaring the Circle. This can be seen, alongside Layers & Narratives, at Het Gasthuis in Aarschot, Belgium in May.

As well as venues in Britain and Europe, the group has also exhibited in the United States, Canada, Japan and Russia. Each major exhibition is accompanied by a book which is illustrated, designed and published by the group.
The group continues to flourish in spite of the potential difficulty of having members in seven different countries. This geographical spread makes getting together difficult, but it has the advantage that artists can draw on contacts in their own countries to arrange exhibitions. In addition, the variety of their backgrounds brings diversity to their work.

The small size of the group – currently only 16 members - can be viewed as one of its strengths. Limiting the membership reduces the administrative burden involved in simply keeping the group running. But it does mean that every member has to be prepared to work for the benefit of the group: finding venues and then liaising with them, transport and arranging publicity.
Quilt Art is fortunate in being able to draw on the special skills of some of its members: Charlotte Yde, for example, designs the book and the website. The Treasurer, Fenella

Davies, keeps control over the group’s finances. Other members have developed their own roles. Dirkje van der Horst-Beetsma, transports exhibitions in her car all over Europe and is an excellent and enthusiastic seller of books. Others contribute by hosting meetings or taking on administrative tasks suited to their skills.

The group meets four times a year, and not all the members are able to attend each time, so the key to its smooth functioning can be summed up in one word: communication. The group also meets occasionally on Zoom.

But, as with any group, the most vital attribute that members bring is commitment: a positive attitude which is prepared to overcome logistical difficulties and geographical distances. The longevity of the group, even with many changes of membership over the years, acts as a bonding element. Inge Hueber, from Germany, is a founder member and several of the the members have belonged for fifteen years or more.

Ultimately, of course, the reputation of any exhibiting group rests on the quality of the work. From the outset, QuiltArt has had a selection process to ensure the highest standards. Many of the members have won international awards and have their work included in prestigious collections. Some are also teachers, lecturers, writers and curators.

But QuiltArt is by no means inward-looking and is actively seeking new members. Please see the group's website for more information. The group is looking for well-established artists who are working independently and consistently, whose work is not only technically proficient but demonstrates something that is harder to define: the artist’s own unique ‘voice.’ Despite the name of the group, the work does not have to conform to the traditional definition of a quilt and several members come from non-quilting backgrounds. Diversity of expression is welcomed.

For many members, belonging to QuiltArt is about much more than an opportunity to exhibit but about international friendships and the opportunity to share the issues and concerns faced by artists working in isolation most of the time. Forty years on, QuiltArt is a mature and self-confident group of textile artists, still finding inexhaustible expressive potential in fabric and stitch and looking towards the future and the next challenge.

Please check with the venues for accurate times and dates:
Layers and Narratives
Museum de Kantafabriek, Horst, the Netherlands
until 27 April 2025

Het Gasthuis, Aarschot, Belgium
4 – 31 May 2025

German Textile Museum, Krefeld, Germany
7 September – 28 December 2025

Textilsammlung Max Berk, Heidelberg, Germany
1 February – 28 May 2026

Fuga Gallery, Budapest, Hungary
4 September – 4 October 2026

Midlands Arts Centre, Birmingham, UK
August 2027

QuiltArt is an educational charity based in the UK
www.quiltart.eu

Instagram: quiltart.eu