MIX AND MATCH

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At the heart of the exhibition Mix and Match, textile weaves its way as both medium and metaphor.

In fashion and interior design, mix and match refers to the art of combining diverse styles within a single composition. It celebrates contrast as much as harmony, the dialogue between difference and resemblance. Translated literally, it means to coordinate, to combine, to blend. Within the exhibition, Mix and Match becomes an invitation to discover artists from various cultures, generations, and disciplines—renowned figures alongside emerging voices—brought together in conversation through their works.

Textile, the thread that connects each piece, is a material that inhabits every aspect of our daily lives. It clothes us, furnishes our spaces, and accompanies our gestures. Made of woven fibers—natural or synthetic, plain or patterned—it may be hand-crafted or industrially produced, sometimes recycled. Whether luxurious or humble, textiles circulate across cultures, geographies, and eras, shaping phenomena such as fashion and the transmission of traditions.

Through the eyes of the artists in the Zinsou Collection, the textile reveals itself as far more than a surface or a craft. It becomes a language. Some artists use it as a medium—embroidered, dyed, cut, assembled—to translate their reflections and emotions. For others, it is a repository of memory, bearing traces of time and history. It can serve as a symbol of identity, a marker of belonging, a tool for collective expression. It evokes migration, globalization, and the movement of ideas and people. The garments we wear may question stereotypes, protest injustice, or offer protection—both physical and spiritual. Threads carry personal stories, intimate narratives, and ancestral lineages, weaving connections between individual and collective memory.

Beyond its utilitarian function, the textile in Mix and Match becomes a space for emotion and storytelling—a medium through which artists articulate social, cultural, and personal histories. More than a material, it is a vessel of memory, an instrument of resistance, and a means of transmission.