International Beds Exhibit Opens December 16 Santa Fe, NM--Why do certain cultures sleep in cloth-swaddled four-poster beds while others choose tatami mats on the floor? What is the origin of the bed as we know it today? Visitors to the Museum of International Folk Art will ponder like questions while perusing Dream On: Beds from Asia to Europe, an engaging and interactive exhibition of furniture, pillows, and bedding. The installation opens on December 16, 2005, and runs through September 4, 2006. Dream On explores sleeping as a cultural activity and beds as objects that embody cultural mores. "The bed is the place where our lives begin and where--if we're lucky--they end," said curator Annie Carlano. "In between such rites of passage, we love, play, feel safe and comforted, sleep and dream. Why have these different modes developed from such a universal need?" The first bed was the earth itself. Early humans no doubt gravitated to soft surfaces like sand, grass and piles of leaves for sleeping. Inventing various textile techniques such as plaiting, weaving and embroidery, some cultures developed sleeping mats placed directly on the ground, onto raised surfaces in domestic interiors, or as built-in elements of interior architecture. Others slept on rooftops, in hammocks, or in tents. With Dream On, Carlano and co-curator Bobbie Sumberg are creating an alluring exhibition, inviting visitors to imagine the sleeping arrangements of different cultures throughout history. "I remember as a kid how exciting it was to sleep in a tent or sleeping bag. It was so out-of-the-ordinary that I could hardly fall asleep the first time," said Sumberg. "We take our style of sleeping for granted, as if everyone in the world sleeps like us. Dream On shows us we're not all the same even though we all have to sleep." The exhibition will be presented in an arrangement that evokes the realm of sleep and dreams, featuring seventy examples of furniture, pillows, and bedding. Drawn in part from masterworks from the Museum of International Folk Art�s collections of Old World objects, as well as loans from private collections and museums, the exhibition will be divided into three sections, each focusing on a particular style of sleeping. The first section, "Sleeping Low," features works from Japan and islands of the Pacific Rim, including a tatami, kimono-shaped quilts, Chinese head rests, woven rattan mats from Borneo, and embroidered silk sleeping cloths from Southeast Asia. Visitors will then move on to "Sleeping on the Move," with works from Central Asia, the Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean, featuring nomadic piled bedding from Turkey and Uzbekistan. Finally, "Sleeping High," with works from Asia and Europe, features the bed as furniture. Dream On: Beds from Asia to Europe, will be accompanied by a lavishly illustrated book. Broader in scope than the installation, the publication will discuss the evolution of the bed in the Ancient World, different cultural attitudes toward sleeping, the material culture that expresses these attitudes, and modern adaptations of ancient practices as well as explore contemporary design solutions to beds and bedding. Attitudes and emotions about comfort, repose, intimacy, and the fertile world of dreams will permeate the text. The book and the exhibit will work together to convey the primal nature of the bed in our lives. The Museum of International Folk Art holds the world�s largest collection of folk art with more than 130,000 objects from more than 100 nations in permanent, changing, traveling and interactive exhibitions. Included are 106,000 objects from the Girard Foundation Collection; the Neutrogena Collection with more than 2,500 items; and the Hispanic Heritage Wing with the largest collection of Spanish colonial folk art in the United States. Additional information is available online:
From: Museum of New Mexico
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