FACIO, Isaac; KAI, Nneka; VINEBAUM, L; WILSON, Anne (eds.)
On Loss and Absence: Textiles of Mourning and Survival

From ancient Egyptian shrouds to medieval relics, textiles have played both functional and symbolic roles in rituals of death across time and place. Featuring funeral hangings, mourning samplers, garments, and many other textiles and fragments, along with works by contemporary textile artists such as Nick Cave (b. 1959) and Angela Hennessey (b. 1971), this book highlights how these objects help people negotiate experiences of loss, grief, healing, and survival.

With over seventy textiles dating from antiquity to today, On Loss and Absence brings together examples from cultures and traditions around the world. Close-up photographs provide an intimate look at the wealth of artistic and historical information embedded in their intricate details and painstaking techniques. In four key sections—Death and Grief, Transition of Realms, Care and Healing, and Resistance and Survival—artists, conservators, educators, and scholars offer their in-depth perspectives on select objects and their context. Contemporary practitioners, including the Noqanchis collective of Andean weavers and Navajo weavers Lynda Teller Pete and Barbara Teller Ornelas, provide insight into the enduring legacies of Indigenous textile arts. A behind-the-scenes look at textile conservation examines preservation techniques in the larger thematic context of care and survival. [publishers’ note]

Published in conjunction with the eponymous exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Contributions by Jerry Bleem, Valerie Cassel Oliver, Gustavo da Silva, Wafa Ghnaim, Jen Chen-su Huang, Cristian Koepfli, Alipio Melo, Sarah Molina, Maria Jose Murillo, Lucinda Pelton, Sharbreon Plummer, Jenni Sorkin, Barbara Teller Ornelas, Lynda Teller Pete, Cybele Tom, Melinda Watt, Danitza Willka and Folayemi Wilson.

Published by Art Institute of Chicago, 2025
Exhibition Catalogues / Crafts / Art History / Cultural Studies