The Clothed Home: tuning in to the seasonal imagination

The exhibition explores the ways in which textiles have been used to reflect the rhythm of seasonal changes in domestic interiors. Today, as we spend most of the time in centrally heated apartments and air-conditioned offices, we have become indifferent to the circadian rhythm and nuances of nature’s changing cycles. Recalling bygone domestic rituals can help us tune in with the seasons again: cultivate our relationship with the natural world and react more attentively to its changes.

In the pre-electricity era, textiles were widely used as seasonal clothing for architecture. They helped adapt domestic spaces to the twelve phenological seasons characteristic of the Central European climate zone. The recurring appearance of textiles in domestic interiors allowed for conscious participation in the cycles of nature – in celebrating the passage of time, with an enhanced sense of immersion in the circadian rhythm and the sequence of light and darkness. As a result, ‘The Clothed Home’ functioned as a resonator, helping residents feel the pulse of the natural world..

The exhibition, organised by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, was shown in the Polish pavilion at the London Design Biennale 2021.

Concept and design of the exhibition: CENTRALA (Małgorzata Kuciewicz, Simone De Iacobis)
Curator: Aleksandra Kędziorek
Artist: Alicja Bielawska
Visual identification: Anna Kulachek
Coordinator: Olga Pawlak
Graphic design: Piotr Chuchla

The Adam Mickiewicz Institute

The Adam Mickiewicz Institute is a national cultural institution whose mission is to develop and disseminate the cultural dimension of Poland by fostering international collaboration and cultural exchange. Over the last 20 years, the Institute has organised more than 6,000 cultural events with almost 55 million participants. The Institute has carried out projects in countries including the United Kingdom, the United States, Russia, Israel, Germany, Turkey, Brazil, the Benelux, Korea, Japan and China, thereby gaining unique experience from working within a diversity of cultures, worldviews, and traditions. The relations developed and maintained over the years with major institutions and festivals from around the globe have enabled Polish artists to take part in projects organised in 70 countries across five continents.