The Common Thread

Why are the principles for the first computer based on a loom? Why do so many maths teachers in Peru come from the families of weavers? What meanings lie behind the language of textile idioms?

Threads, materials and patterns are taken for granted as a natural part of our daily life. Around the world, textile ideas and terms inform our language, narratives, stories and myths. Making textiles also stimulates our spatial and mathematical thinking.

Taking the Weltkulturen Museum’s textile collections from the Americas, South East Asia, Oceania and Africa as a basis, THE COMMON THREAD reflects on and presents the culturally diverse techniques of textile production. This publication takes an interdisciplinary perspective from cultural anthropology, philosophy to contemporary music and art to offer a deeper insight into the topics addressed in the exhibition.

With contributions by artists and scholars: Max Carocci, Maren Gebhardt, Shan Goshorn, William Ingram, Gerhard Müller-Hornbach, Dagmar Schweitzer de Palacios, Pirita Seitamaa-Hakkarainen, Sarah Sense, Jens Soentgen, Ruth Stützle Kaiser, Rangi Te Kanawa and Tim Zahn.

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