This spring, DAS MINSK Kunsthaus in Potsdam will present the group exhibition Soft Power, which positions the art and design of textiles as a means of expression that can question power relations. The exhibition understands textiles not only as handcrafted or industrially-fabricated objects but also as a part of systems. This includes the webs of production and trade that continue to move textiles and people across the globe; the histories, cartographies, and cosmologies that unfold around them; and their use as an integral part of our daily routines and special rituals. The exhibition unfolds in three chapters: Invisible Hands, Disrupting Patterns and Ancestral Threads.

Soft Power shows works by Magdalena Abakanowicz, Caroline Achaintre, Wilder Alison, El Anatsui, Leonor Antunes, Ouassila Arras, Rufina Bazlova, Kevin Beasley, Mariana Chkonia, Edith Dekyndt, Claus Dobberke, Toni Ebel, Gee’s Bend Quiltmakers, Philipp Gufler, William Kentridge, Maria Lai, Joanna Louca, Manuel Mathieu, Rosemary Mayer, Elrid Metzkes, Małgorzata Mirga-Tas, Sandra Mujinga, Gulnur Mukazhanova, Otobong Nkanga, Willem de Rooij, Ramona Schacht, Gabriele Stötzer, Sung Tieu, Rosemarie Trockel, Johanna Unzueta, Hamid Zénati, and others.

The exhibition is curated by Daniel Milnes, who has worked as a curator at DAS MINSK since June 2023.