H-ART. Journal of Art History, Theory and Criticism is looking for articles for the dossier "Soft Interventions: Knitting, Embroidery and Textiles as Challenges to the Art Historical and Social Canon".
Both the artistic production of the last century and the art historical reflections based on gender studies have spawned diverse initiatives that highlight and revalue the role of knitting, embroidery and textiles in artistic creation, as well as studies of the ways in which these media contribute distinctive work processes and modes of signification to the disciplines of art and art history. The time-based and corporeal processes related to these modes of production are key elements to establish connections with historical and cultural antecedents, and they also bring transformations in the realm of affect and meaning that suggest distinct models of social coexistence and interaction. In addition, these aesthetic actions frequently break with conventional horizons of expectation regarding issues such as: the hierarchical relationship between art and craft; the uses and/or combinations of artistic media and artistic gender; habitual markers for gender, class and ethnicity, and models of political art.
Although a number of existing publications address aspects of this topic, including the pioneering volume by Rozsika Parker, The Subversive Stitch: Embroidery and the Making of the Feminine (1984) and the recent publication by Julia Bryan-Wilson, Fray: art + textile politics (2017), this dossier aims to deepen and widen the reflection through the study of specific cases from a broader geographic and cultural universe, as well as through historical and theoretical reflection on the implications and contributions of art works representative of these “soft interventions” in the construction of new discourses in the fields of art and art history, and their role in deconstructing and reconfiguring the categories, dichotomies and cartographies that constitute the art historical canon. We welcome manuscripts that share research related to these topics through the analysis of specific examples or broader historical and theoretical reflections.