War and Pieced: The Annette Gero Collection

23 February to 28 April 2019

Not to be missed!! This stunning exhibition – a blockbuster exhibition just back from New York – is a unique showcase of spectacularly complex geometric quilts made from military fabrics by soldiers and military tailors in the time of war. Once termed “soldiers’ quilts” or “convalescent quilts”, the pieced textiles in this exhibition are associated with World War I and World War II, as well as the earliest quilts from the Napoleonic Wars, the late eighteenth century, conflicts in India, South Africa and wars during the nineteenth century.

The visual virtuosity of the quilts, often incorporating many thousands of pieces no larger than 2–3 centimetres square, assumes a deeper emotional resonance as we consider them within the matrix of war and its aftermath. As works of art, they demonstrate that something beautiful can be an outcome of war. This Cowra Regional Art Gallery exhibition is drawn from the unparalleled collection of internationally acclaimed quilt authority, Dr. Annette Gero.

_{Image: Intarsia with Soldiers, c.1760-1780, possibly Prussia, maker unknown (initials JSJ), wool, all hand sewn, intarsia. Photo: Tim Connolly, Shoot Studios.}