While it is always gratifying to see an article on tapestry weaving (“Crest of a weave”, House & Home, February 1), I would suggest that the current interest in the art form has been sparked by curators and members of the public belatedly realising the power of textiles made by the artists who designed them.
The 2022 Venice Biennale featured practitioners such as Leonora Carrington, Rosemarie Trockel and Ruth Asawa, among numerous others, bringing to the fore artists whose work had been sidelined, in an effort to redress the balance of past biennales, when there has been an inevitable emphasis on painting and sculpture.
Tate Modern has also recently had major exhibitions of the work of Anni Albers, Magdalena Abakanowicz and El Anatsui, to public and critical acclaim.
While there is room for both types of practice in the art world, and while I worked with excellent painters at the Dovecot who wanted a tapestry version of their paintings, I feel that the most powerful pieces are by those artists who understand the strengths of the medium and use it to its best advantage.
Joanne Soroka
Former Artistic Director, Dovecot Studios
Edinburgh, UK