EKTA KAUL AT THE FESTIVAL OF QUILTS
Ekta Kaul is an award-winning textile artist known for her embroidered story maps. Her exhibition, Mapping Meaning, is at The Festival of Quilts for its 20th Anniversary at the NEC Birmingham from 3-6 August 2023. Ekta will be speaking about her artistic practice in a lecture called Transformation: The Power of Stitch at The Festival of Quilts on Thursday 3 August.
Image: Ekta Kaul, Threads of Connection detail© TOAST. Image above: Ekta Kaul in the studio. © Yeshen Venema.
Ekta, you express yourself creatively through fabric and thread, telling stories of place, history and belonging. You’ve described embroidery and the act of stitching as an act of ‘mapping memory’. Can you tell us more about that and about the appeal of maps for storytelling?
Maps are receptacles of meaning. Not only are they visually arresting objects, they are also narrative devices to share stories and have been used throughout history to tell specific versions of truth. When I look at historical maps, I am so intrigued by what is on the map and also what is left out, who is the narrator and who is the intended audience.
Image: Ekta Kaul, Threads of Connection detail© TOAST. Image above: Ekta Kaul in the studio. © Yeshen Venema. Ekta, you express yourself creatively through fabric and thread, telling stories of place, history and belonging. You’ve described embroidery and the act of stitching as an act of ‘mapping memory’. Can you tell us more about that and about the appeal of maps for storytelling?
Maps are receptacles of meaning. Not only are they visually arresting objects, they are also narrative devices to share stories and have been used throughout history to tell specific versions of truth. When I look at historical maps, I am so intrigued by what is on the map and also what is left out, who is the narrator and who is the intended audience.
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