Monument to Love: Swedish Marriage Textiles from the Khalili Collection
**From the Collection of Nasser D. Khalili, declared one of ARTnews’ Top 200 Collectors in the World in 2003**

September 5, 2003 – October 26, 2003
Opening Reception Thursday, September 4, 2003 6-8 pm

BOSTON-- The Boston University Art Gallery opens its fall season with Monument to Love: Swedish Marriage Textiles from the Khalili Collection. The first exhibition of this material in the United States and one of the few exhibitions of Swedish Textiles ever in this country, the exhibition showcases the rare and unique Swedish Marriage Textiles from the Khalili Collection.

One of the world’s leading philanthropists and collectors, Dr. Nasser D. Khalili has amassed a stunningly impressive art collection. In addition to what many consider to be the most comprehensive private collection of Islamic Art in the world, Khalili has created collections of Japanese Art of the Meiji Period (1868-1912), Indian Textiles, Spanish Damascened Metalwork, Near and Middle Eastern Antiquities, and Swedish Textiles.

Monument to Love: Swedish Marriage Textiles from the Khalili Collection celebrates a very beautiful and relatively unknown artistic practice that flourished in Scania, the southernmost region of Sweden, beginning in the mid-18th century, and was represented in textile panels made as commemorations for wedding ceremonies. This rare and rather personal artistic expression persisted for almost 100 years. Highly valued objects integral to the bride’s dowry for their symbolism, beauty and demonstration of fine taste and handiwork, the art of weaving textiles was an important tradition that passed from mother to daughter in the mid-18th to early-19th centuries.

Local women, unidentified in the works and usually the wives and daughters of prosperous farmers and landholders, individually created each textile shown in this exhibit. Daughters learned to weave at a young age, as it was an advantage at the time of marriage to have a full marriage chest filled with beautiful tapestries as a dowry. Having a strong reputation as a weaver also reflected a woman’s ability to make a pleasing home and care for her family. The textiles on exhibit, demonstrating the “golden age” of Swedish textile production, were generally woven in one of two techniques: rölakan and flamskväv, resulting in a variety of rich visual patterns, ornamentation, and motifs.

Ranging from small square seat cushion covers to impressive wall-length tapestries often as long as seven feet, these striking textiles have retained their vibrant colors, as many were treasured items brought out only for special festivities. Constructed of complex geometric patterns and woven in a technique rarely used today, the works on exhibit mark an important moment in textile history, representing both a Swedish regional style and a far-reaching Byzantine, Islamic, and Asian visual precedent. This exhibition and related programming reinforces the Boston University Art Gallery’s commitment to offering a diverse and interdisciplinary approach to art and culture.

PUBLIC PROGRAMMING

Gallery Talk
Wednesday, September 24, 1 pm
Melissa Renn, Exhibition Coordinator and Graduate Student in Art History, Boston University, will discuss the exhibition’s images and themes.
Boston University Art Gallery

Panel Discussion
Saturday, October 25, 2 p.m., reception to follow
Women Weaving: An Interdisciplinary Discussion of Textiles in the Context of the Exhibition
Panelists:
Linda Behar, Contemporary Textile Artist, Lexington, MA.
Barbara Gottfried, Professor of Women’s Studies, Boston University.
Helena Hernmarck, Swedish Tapestry Artist, Ridgefield, CT.
Janet Hansen Kawada, Visiting Assistant Professor, Fibers Department, MassArt
Désirée Koslin, Assistant Professor, Museum Studies: Costume and Textiles, FIT
Paula Richter, Curator of Textiles and Costumes, Peabody Essex Museum.

IMAGES AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST

Please call the gallery or visit the BU Art Gallery website at www.bu.edu/art for events and programming during the season. All exhibitions and events are free to the public.

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