SAQA StitchPunk Exhibition
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The Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA) Global Exhibition "StitchPunk" opened in April at the New England Quilt Museum, and last month I had the opportunity to visit it in person. This was also my first visit to the New England Quilt Museum, and I was impressed with their gallery space, as well as the additional exhibits the museum curator arranged to complement the StitchPunk show.
What is "StitchPunk"?
The title of SAQA's exhibition, StitchPunk, is a play on words. The "stitch" refers to the type of art featured, which are all art quilts and fabric-based works. The "punk" refers to the theme: any -punk subgenre of science fiction. Here are a few of those subgenres, some of which inspired artwork that appears in SAQA's exhibit:
- Steampunk: Features Victorian-era aesthetics and technology, especially steam-powered and clockwork machinery
- Dieselpunk: Features aesthetics from the early 20th century, particularly 1920s-1950s, especially diesel-powered machinery
- Cyberpunk: Features a combination of punk rock culture with high-tech futuristic society, especially with a dystopian aesthetic
- Raypunk: Features a high-tech future with a focus on ray guns and space exploration
- Biopunk: Features any time period with a twist that focuses on biotechnology and genetic engineering.
The Exhibit
The exhibit space in the museum is on the second floor. After walking up the steps, visitors step into a central open area to which several other rooms connect. Here's a panorama of the space:
The entire collection of work is fabulous, but here are a few of my favorites:
Complementary Exhibits
That final photo (above) shows one of the additional displays that the museum set up to complement the Stitchpunk exhibit. The television on the right played a loop of clips from movies set in some of the science fiction genres featured in the exhibit. This was a fabulous addition because it gave examples of various types of science fiction to viewers and showed that this isn't some weird, niche concept. Hollywood has also embraced -punk genres of science fiction. It's a "real thing".
The movies shown were:
- The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988)
- The City of Lost Children (1995)
- Wild Wild West (1999)
- The Time Machine (2002)
- Northfork (2003)
- Hugo (2007)
- The Best Offer (2013)
In two of the other rooms connecting to the central area, the museum had another display showcasing quilts made from the era that inspired the steampunk genre. I loved this juxtaposition between the imaginative, science fiction quilts and the quilts were actually being created back then.
Although this crafty fellow wasn't part of the StitchPunk exhibit, he certainly fit the aesthetic!
And last but not least, this amazing steampunk diorama is in pride of place on the first floor of the museum. It shows the story of how a quilt turns into a heroine and her animal companions, thanks to a steam-powered machine.
The Show Goes On
SAQA's Stitchpunk will continue its travels until the end of 2027. Here are the locations where it will be on display over the next few years:
- New England Quilt Museum, Lowell, Massachusetts: April 30 - July 13, 2024
- Festival of Quilts, Birmingham, United Kingdom: August 1 - 5, 2024
- A. E. Backus Museum & Gallery, Fort Pierce, Florida: November 22 - January 5, 2025
- Museum of Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas: February 13 - May 4, 2026
- Grants Pass Museum of Art, Grants Pass, Oregon: May - July 2026
- Temple Railroad & Heritage Museum, Temple, Texas: October 9 2026 - January 16 2027
