Acadian Brown Cotton: The Fabric of Acadiana

Exhibition Dates: Sept. 11, 2020—June 30, 2021

This landmark exhibition is the most comprehensive project to date dedicated to the cultural traditions associated with the farming and weaving of brown cotton in Acadiana.

Acadian Brown Cotton: The Fabric of Acadiana is much like the blankets on view in that it is composed of many, many threads. The exhibition tells several stories that, taken as a whole, represent an ambitious synthesis of folklore, anthropology, economics, and art history. First, the manner in which weaving practices were passed largely from mother to daughter is conveyed through genealogical analyses that illustrate, in a general sense, how weaving as a cultural idiom in Acadiana tended to spread geographically. The weaving process is explained and illustrated through home furnishings that were common in Acadian households before the mid-twentieth century. Viewers will learn how economic conditions in Acadiana played an important role in the revitalization of brown cotton weaving, especially in the last 150 years, and how the current wave of weaving revitalization has become an economic and cultural force. Specifically, emphasis is placed on the community organizing activities of the non-profit Field to Fashion in Acadiana.

Finally, Acadian Brown Cotton: The Fabric of Acadiana addresses brown cotton weaving from the standpoint of visual culture. Social documentary photographer Leah Greaff’s photographs reflect a keen eye and provoke concepts of artistic intention, symbolism, art as commodity, and the difficulty of navigating between artistic classifications such as decorative and fine art. Master spinner and weaver Elaine Larcade Bourque, as well as Austin Clark, Ben Koch, Lena Kolb, LaChaun Moore, and Francis Pavy are some of the artists whose work is included in the exhibition. Their creations illustrate how weaving traditions can or have become more symbolically important than subsistence practitioners ever thought possible.

—Hilliard Art Museum