Anticipating the future of textile design, Lidewij Edelkoort looked into her crystal ball and saw a wealth of material knowledge, technological innovation, new research methods, and means of fabrication in a range of new works by 11 Belgian artists.

In the partnership of different Belgian organizations—Belgium is Design, Flanders DC, MAD Brussels, and Wallonie-Bruxelles Design Mode (WBDM)—the exhibition “TEXTILES REVEALED” features sublimely grandiose wallhangings and textured rugs. Far from the aesthetic of the country’s traditional woven vocabulary, the atypical works employ coiling, felting, digital jacquards, and tufting in a showcase of that defines a new era of textile design at New York City’s Unix Gallery.

Upon entering Chelsea’s sun-basked Unix Gallery, visitors are confronted by an inviting fringed tapestry by Brussels-based BedrossianServaes—a wall, or passageway, depending on how you choose to interact with it. Meanwhile, the second gallery serves up as equally stimulating woven works. Alice Leens abstract threads deconstruct ties to the production of weaving with beautifully banal exercises of form.

On the other hand, grandiose tufted rugs by Christoph Hefti feature Nepal inspired techniques to produce hand-tufted figures rendered in a melange of color and texture. Transfixed somewhere between analog and digital, KRJST Studio enters the digital sphere with trippy tapestries that demonstrate both contemporary and historical production methods.

Presented as part of New York City Textile Month, “TEXTILES REVEALED” is Belgium is Design’s first US undertaking. The exhibition is a continuation of Belgian showcases mounted by the organization during Milan Design Week, Stockholm Furniture, and Light Fair, and Maison et Objet.

TEXTILES REVEALED will be will open through October 3rd, daily from 10 am to 6 pm.

Header image: Christoph Hefti’s Nepal inspired textiles feature hand tufted figures rendered in a melange of color and texture. (Jeroen Verrecht)