Exhibit/Book Review: Deeds Not Words

Deeds Not Words: Celebrating 100 Years of Women's Suffrage is the book i'm reviewing, but know first that it's a catalogue for a traveling exhibit of quilts created by contemporary textile artists in celebration of the centennial of the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution. The exhibit kicks off at the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, KY on April 3 where it will be on view through June 9th, 2020. I couldn't find a schedule for where it'll go from there, but the notes in the book say that it'll travel through 2012, and since several contributing artists are involved with other quilt museums around the country and the whole thing is sponsored in part by equilter.com, keep your eyes open for dates near you.

The book is a comprehensive catalogue of the exhibit which includes full-color photographs of all 28 quilts which comprise it as well as other supplementary images (photographs, source documents, etc). Two essays on the history of suffrage and how racism impacted the movement start off the book, followed by an image of each quilt, an artist's statement about their work, and a detailed biography of the quilter.

There are also a couple of appendices of note that apply to quilts in the exhibition. One quilt addresses the concept of "first ladies"--the first woman to achieve various honors/positions/awards.The quilt includes portraits of dozens of women (like Sally Ride, the first female astronaut) and Appendix A names them all and offers brief biographical facts about each. Another quilt celebrates the unsung heroes of African American suffrage, and Appendix B cites names/bios of all of these women.

This is a beautifully produced "coffee table"-style art book in and of itself and though I have not yet had the pleasure to attend the exhibition, I enjoyed seeing and reading about the featured quilts. Highly recommended!

I was given an advance copy of this title by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.