Deconstruction and Renewal: Textiles at Łódź’s 18th Triennial

The 18th International Triennial of Textile (ITT) opened on October 11, 2025, at the Central Museum of Textiles in Łódź, Poland, and marked fifty years of one of the world’s most significant events dedicated to contemporary textile art. Since its inception in 1975, the Triennial had served as an international forum for artists, curators, and textile enthusiasts — a meeting place where material, concept, and craftsmanship converged.

Organised by the Central Museum of Textiles, the 2025 edition explored the theme Deconstruction / Reconstruction, curated by Marta Kowalewska and Bukola Oyebode-Westerhuis. The curators framed deconstruction as a necessary act of breaking down outdated systems and beliefs, while reconstruction offered the promise of renewal, repair, and rediscovery. Artists responded with works that challenged modern structures and proposed new, inclusive ways social, political, and environmental living.

Aziza Kadyri (Uzbekistan), Her stage (II), 2024. 

The Gold Medal was awarded to Aziza Qadyri (Uzbekistan) for Her Stage (II), a soft sculpture installation honouring her grandmother’s unfulfilled dream of becoming a folk dancer — a moving meditation on memory and personal history. 

The Silver Medal went to Polish artist Lukasz Wojtanovski for Corpus Christi Procession (Green). Featured in the lead image of this post, it demonstrated a technically accomplished example of textile art using the processes of batik, hand-embroidery, and beading.

Charlott Markus (Netherlands / Sweden), Partition #8 (sound clouds & shields), Iteration II, 2023. 

The Bronze Medal was presented to Charlott Markus, a Swedish artist based in Amsterdam, for Partition #8, a mixed media audio installation incorporating curtains from a psychiatric hospital to explore themes of confinement and healing. Together, these works demonstrated the breadth of contemporary textile practice — from the tactile to the conceptual, and from material mastery to emotional resonance.

The opening weekend brought together generations of makers and thinkers for exhibitions, performances, and discussions, and on 12 October, Polly Leonard, founder of Selvedge Magazine, was among the international jury members for the 5th Young Textile Art Triennial (YTAT), organised by the Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź. Joining Ibrahim Mahama, Tina Marais, and Hanna Rydlewska in selecting this year’s most compelling works, the day concluded with the YTAT exhibition and awards ceremony — celebrating emerging artists shaping the future of textile art.

Nagroda Tkanina Projektowa: Kristi Komel – Ruderal Shift. Photo credit: Paulina Sadrak

In the Textile Design Category, the top award went to Kristi Komel for Ruderal Shift, a striking project that transformed the invasive Japanese knotweed into biodegradable paper textiles — an elegant, sustainable response to a contemporary ecological challenge.

What Is Left When Nothing Is Left: I. Paukkonen, K. Busk, R-J Setälä, E. Simola, V. Tykkyläinen. Photo: P. Sadrak

Ornamental Obsession A Translation from Traditional to Contemporary, Jessica Broberg.  Photo: P. Sadrak

Honourable mentions went to Ida Paukkonen, Katja Busk, Riika-Janita Setälä, Emma Simola, and Viktor Tykkyläinen for What is Left When Nothing is Left?, made from deconstructed household objects that offered a glimpse into the future of textile design, and to Jessica Broberg for Ornamental Obsession, praised for its use of transparency as “a window on the past reinterpreted with contemporary expression.”

Heritage, Olena Morokhowska. Photo: Paulina Sadrak

In the Textile Art Category, Olena Morokhovska received first prize for Heritage, an eloquent meditation on cultural loss.

The Ode, Patricia Šťastná. Photo: Paulina Sadrak

(K)not Repetitions, Ieva Laskevičiūtė. Photo: Paulina Sadrak

Materia; Unspun, Nina Kruger. Photo: Paulina Sadrak

Honourable mentions were awarded to Patrícia Šťastná for The ODE, which used a restrained palette to evoke the universal experience of grief, and to Ieva Laskevičiūtė for (K)not Repetitions, a study of time through the physical gesture of the knot. A special award — a residency at Ibrahim Mahama’s studio in Ghana — went to Nina Kruger for Materia; Unspun, commended for its poetic balance of audacity and fragility.

Over five decades, the Łódź Triennial has traced the evolution of textiles as a medium of cultural and political expression. The 2025 edition reaffirmed that cloth remains a vital means of questioning, storytelling, and transformation.

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Further Information:

18th International Triennial of Textile

Central Museum of Textiles, Łódź

@centralnemuzeumwlokiennictwa

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Image Credits:

Lead: Łukasz Wojtanowski, Corpus Christi Procession (green) (detail), 2023. 

All further images as credited in photo captions.