Student curates propaganda textiles exhibition

An exhibition of propaganda textiles, curated by a University of Essex research student, has gone on show at the Fashion and Textile Museum in London.

The Fabric of Democracy: Propaganda Textiles from the French Revolution to Brexit features around 150 artworks from around the world. It was curated by dress and textile historian Amber Butchart.

The exhibition explores how fabric designers and manufacturers have responded to political upheaval and how textiles have been used as a tool of the state across the political spectrum, from communism to fascism.

Exhibits include French Toile de Jouy, Japanese robes from the Asia-Pacific war and Cultural Revolution-era Chinese fabrics rarely exhibited in the UK.

The exhibition is an extension of Amber’s PhD research, which focuses on propaganda textiles between 1946 and 1970.

“In the Western world, textiles have historically been classified as ‘women’s work’, occupying the private domestic sphere in opposition to public work such as painting or sculpture. However, many textiles show that the home can be a politicised space, and that fabrics - a historically ‘feminised’ artform - can contribute to and shape political debates,” Amber said.

“In fact, textiles have been used to spread political messages for centuries.”

The industrial age revolutionised the textile industry and print technologies, making it easier, faster and cheaper to create elaborate imagery on cloth. This ‘democratisation’ of the industry allowed governments, regimes and corporations to harness the power of textiles to communicate, from wartime slogans to revolutionary ideals.

Highlights from the exhibition include a handkerchief from 1951, used as psychological warfare by the Chinese People's Volunteers during the Korean War. Found by a member of the King's Royal Rifle Corps stationed in Korea, it had been dropped from the air to weaken morale.

Also on show are a number of pieces of eighteenth-century Toile de Jouy furnishing fabric. One was designed to celebrate the Fête de la Fédération on 14 July 1790 and depicts Louis XVI, accompanied by the royal family including his wife Marie Antoinette, taking the oath of the federation. It was marketed from autumn 1791, just two years before the execution of Louis XVI.

Another item on show is a dress made from Jet Planes fabric designed by Lucienne Day, one of the most influential textile designers of the postwar era. The print, which celebrates the jet engine, was directly inspired by a poster designed by her husband Robin Day, for the 1946 Jet exhibition for the Ministry of Supply, a government department responsible for aeronautical research and the development of atomic energy.

The Fabric of Democracy: Propaganda Textiles from the French Revolution to Brexit is at the Fashion and Textile Museum in London until 3 March 2024. Find out more and book tickets.

Header image: La fête de la Fédération textile 1790 © Musee de la Toile de Jouy

Picture of Amber Butchart courtesy of Fanni Williams.