Description

TEXTILES FOR THE END OF THE WORLD: SUMMER 2026 SURFACE DESIGN JOURNAL

This Journal is available for presale and will ship in mid-July. 

We are living in a period rife with conflict, inequality, and various forms of insecurity, both locally and globally. This exhibition examines how contemporary makers are using their craft to adapt the role of textiles as tools for resilience, knowledge-sharing, community-building, and survival in order to find new ways to thrive and improve quality of life as we look ahead toward an uncertain future. 

“I’ve been thinking about how textile and fiber practices carry knowledge and practical skills that could be instrumental to our survival, giving us the tools to live through the crises we face today… Fiber practices bring together disparate forms of making, knowing and imagining, assembling a shared toolkit for navigating uncertainty… This issue was conceived during the socio-political crises that occurred in rapid succession in early 2026 in the United States. This was right around the time when immigration officers were deployed across the country, leading to fatal shootings in Minneapolis and the detention and harassment of immigrants and people of color nationwide. The grief and anger felt by communities were palpable, and the way people came together in resistance was incredible. Textiles frequently appeared in protests against the violence.” –Elena Wise, Guest Editor
 

FEATURES

Guest Editor Essay: How to Survive the End of the World by Elena Wise
Hazmatters: For Holding Hands at the End of the (Human) World by Madelaine Corbin
The Persistence of Henequén by Ashley Newsome Kubley
Threading Habitability: Textiles as Interfaces of Care, Memory, and Resilience by d-o-t-s (Laura Drouet and Olivier Lacrouts)
Banner: Noun, Verb, Adjective, Form, Medium by Riley Gunderson
Held In Common: Maggie Thompson and the Craft of Collective Care by Topher Gent
Stitch as a Practice of Hope, Support and Presence in a World of Turbulences by Gabrielė Navickaitė and Dr. Jelena Škulis
 

DEPARTMENTS

In Conversation: Faith, Hope and Climate Change by Saberah S. Malik and ​Joanna Rogers
In The Studio: Into the Weeds by Eliza Faulkner Guion 
Made Aware: Sheep Herding is Resistance by Siihasin-Hope A. Alvarado
Exposure: A Gallery of SDA Members’ Work
Informed Source: Tending to Solidarity by Rachel Breen and Lauren Callis
Made Aware: The Wrapper-Wearers by Kosisochukwu Nnebe
Informed Source: Net Making as a Wartime Cultural Form in Ukraine by Dasha Lohvynova
In The Studio: Bark Baskets After the World Collapses by Jess Kaufman
In Print: Textile Fine Art: Conversations with Artists Creating By Hand reviewed by Faith Hagenhofer
 

Cover art by Fernando Laposse, Conflict Avocados Tapestry (detail), 2023. Cotton fabric sewn and natural-dyed with avocado and marigold, 1574.8 inches long. Photo: NGV Triennial.