Textile Artists of the 1970s—1980s—Leaders of Folk Applied Art Studios
Textile Artists of the 1970s—1980s—Leaders of Folk Applied Art Studios

Summary/Abstract: The aim of the article is to draw attention to the interaction between professional textile art and handicrafts or folk applied art in Soviet Latvia. In 1961, within the State Academy of Arts of the Latvian SSR (now the Art Academy of Latvia, hereinafter — the Academy) was established the Department of Textile Art. In the 1960s, it began to award the honorary title of the Master of Folk Crafts and Folk Applied Art Studios (hereinafter — the Studio or FAAS). The descriptions of the activities of the Studios mostly emphasize that they continue folk art traditions, but the experiments with craft techniques and inspiration from contemporary textile art are mentioned in a generalized and vague way. The study shows the presence of contemporary textile art in the works of FAAS and the leaders of the Studios as a link between the two. Nine textile artists with the Academy education managed Studios from the 1970s and 1980s. Research methods: literature studies, comparison of textile art and textile crafts, interviews with textile artists. Examples of musealized art by these textile artists in the museums of Latvian Artists’ Union, the Museum of Decorative Arts and Design, as well as in the National History Museum of Latvia.

• Details
• Contents