Textile arts are often associated largely with traditional crafts like batik or weaving. Contemporary textile art practices, however, go far beyond this to encompass both the heritage of the form, while also innovating and using them to engage with current cultural and sociopolitical concerns. An exhibition called Common Threads looks at how the art form is evolving in Malaysia, and regardless of whether the works are embroidered, woven, stitched, pinned, knotted, or stretched. We speak with two of the show’s featured artists, Iona Danald and Marcos Kueh, about how contemporary textile arts are telling stories of today.

Image Source: The Black Room