Ines Doujak & John Barker: Loomshuttles, Warpaths

Loom Shuttles, Warpaths is a visual study of textiles and their global history--a history that is characterized by cultural, class and gender conflict, and one that sheds light on the asymmetrical relationships between Europe and Latin America, as exemplified by the production and culture of Andean textiles. Created by Austrian artist Ines Doujak (born 1959) and British novelist and memoirist John Barker (born 1948), the book explores the aesthetic and political implications of a collection of 48 Andean textiles assembled over 35 years. Gorgeously produced with a cloth spine and tipped-in plates, the book consists of an inventory of this archive; posters created by Doujak that visually interpret the textiles in the style of fashion magazine covers, which are themselves accompanied by texts showing how these textiles are entangled with imperialist history; and further writings on the politics of textiles by both of the collaborators.