Textile Art is Thriving in — How Did We Get Here & Why Is It Important?
By: The Edit Gallery
Textiles are on the rise in contemporary art— and it’s not just a trend, it’s a redefinition.
The Edit Gallery, a contemporary art Gallery in Limassol, Cyprus, is witnessing a growing interest in textile-based art from both its collectors and artists. The Gallery team set out to explore why the medium is resonating with these audiences more than ever and why collectors — new and seasoned — might find it to be a rewarding craft
Once dismissed as domestic craft or “women’s work,” textile art has moved from the margins into the heart of the contemporary art world. Artists are reclaiming thread, fiber, and cloth to speak of resilience, identity, memory, and change, creating works that are both materially rich and conceptually bold.
Survival of the Fittest - Group Exhibition at The Edit Gallery
Mariandrie 'Setting the table', 2025
Why Textiles & Why Now?
In a world saturated by screens, speed, and spectacle, textile art invites slowness. It offers tactility and connects audiences with the hand, the body, and time.
Many of today’s most exciting contemporary artists are turning to textile techniques: embroidery, weaving, dyeing, quilting, knotting, not just for their aesthetic potential, but for the stories they can hold. These works carry ancestral knowledge, feminist resistance, ecological urgency, and other deeply personal narratives.
This is a revival of not just craft, but of care.
The Rise of Textile Art in the Art World
Textile art is no longer hidden in the corners of craft shows— it’s center stage at major biennials, museum exhibitions, and art fairs around the world. Institutions are acquiring it, collectors are asking for it, and curators are building shows around it.
Why? Because textile works speak to the current climate. They reflect a longing for authenticity, a renewed interest in labor and process, and an openness to diverse cultural expressions. Softness, once seen as secondary, is now recognize as strength.
Survival of the Fittest - Group Exhibition at The Edit Gallery
(left) Eugenia Vereli 'Felt like a dream', 2025 | (middle) Elena Adamou 'Spazzola', 2020 | (right) Mariandrie 'Good on paper', 2025
Threads That Speak
One of the most compelling aspects of textile art is that it merges material with message: an embroidered phrase, a hand-dyed cloth, a stitched scar, all become vehicles for meaning.
Textiles also have long histories. They wrap bodies, signal belonging, carry ritual, and mark transitions. In contemporary art, they are used to explore themes like gender, migration, trauma, healing, and the politics of care. Every fiber can hold a story.
Survival of the Fittest - Group Exhibition at The Edit Gallery
(left) Ria Alexandrou 'Αυτο που λείπει, δεν έχει φύγει', 2025 | (middle left) Valia Kapeletzi 'Bloom', 2025 | (middle right) Vassia Adamou Vanezi 'They are us', 2019 | (right) Serap Kanay 'Resilience', 2025
Thinking About Collecting Textile Art?
Whether building a collection or discovering the medium for the first time, here are some tips:
Learn the Craft: Understand the techniques involved — from weaving to hand-stitching — to appreciate the time and intention behind each piece.
Ask About Meaning: Textile works often carry personal or political narratives. Ask the artist or gallery about the story behind the work.
Consider Care: Textiles are sensitive to light and humidity. Many are framed under glass or in shadow boxes for protection.
Explore Beyond the Frame: Many textile works are sculptural or immersive. Be open to new forms.
Support Emerging Artists: Many rising voices today are using textiles in exciting, meaningful ways.
Trust Your Eye: If a piece speaks to you — if it holds something you want to live with — it’s worth considering.
To collect textile art is to collect something alive — something shaped by hand, time, and meaning. In an era where resilience, transformation, and softness matter more than ever, these works offer something rare: depth with intimacy, fragility with power.
The Edit Gallery works with numerous artists who are redefining what textiles can be and what influence they yield in the induststry. Discover more at @the_editgallery and on its website here.
