Bag c. 19th century

Editor: We are looking at an intriguing cotton textile entitled "Bag", dating from the 19th century. It's located here at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, and is the creation of an anonymous artist. The navy center makes the edges pop! What details catch your eye in this piece? Curator: Well, my first thought is that “Bag” is perhaps…deceptive as a title? Is it meant to hold something, or *be* something? Because it has that wonderful fringe, like little promises all the way around. It’s quiet and loud at once, you know? Editor: I didn't consider that! It does seem almost too simple to call it a "Bag" without further elaboration. What else strikes you about it? Curator: The textile looks so inviting, doesn’t it? It's clearly made to be touched, considered…and perhaps filled? It invites tactile exploration as if its purpose awaits our filling, maybe a tangible object or a symbolic dream. What do you think someone carried in a bag like that? Perhaps keepsakes? Editor: Perhaps, I wonder if it carried items of great importance, or was created in memory of those that did. Curator: Precisely. Its geometry offers stability, the central blue perhaps representing calm waters... while the colorful perimeter is anything but! It feels as though the quiet center simply is - a calm for the eyes. Editor: I like that idea; there’s such great tension between order and liveliness. Thank you. Curator: Thank *you*! Looking at this work has brought on a desire to create something myself! Perhaps I'll take up crocheting after this.