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In 1972 the photographer Barbara Davatz placed the entire workforce of Firma H. Walser, a textile printing and thread manufacturing company in Zürchersmühle (AR), in front of the camera. In this way, she portrayed 38 men and women, noting the name, birth date, nationality and trade or area of activity of each employee.

The result is a multi-layered photographic work which in its calm, unsentimental objectivity bears witness to social commitment, openness and a sense of attentiveness. While the series can be interpreted as a reaction to the so-called Schwarzenbach Initiative, the portraits represent something much more than a snapshot: they have turned into succinct evidence of a world of work that no longer exists, reflecting questions of identity, belonging and humanity that extend beyond their time.

The ‘Portrait of a Swiss Company’ is being presented in parallel with the exhibition ‘Mise en Scène’, which shows another side of the textile industry: highly staged fashion photography.

About the artist

Barbara Davatz has worked for forty years as a professional photographer and created independent, artistic projects. Her work is marked by precise observation, conceptual clarity and special attention to relationships between people.

Among her most well-known works can be counted ‘Portrait of a Swiss Company’, the photo series titled ‘As Time Goes by’, ‘Beauty Lies Within’, ‘Doppelgänger’ and ‘Gsüün’, in which she investigates over many years such themes as identity, transformation and belonging within society. In addition, she devotes herself to landscape photography, such as the series ‘Heaven and Earth’ and ‘May Green’, in which she blends observation of nature with subjective perception.

The photograph of the former textile printing and thread manufacturing company H. Walser AG, Zürchersmühle, which we are showing on this website, was taken by Jürg Zürcher. It was taken for the exhibition project ‘Iigfädlet’ (2017).

From evening gowns to streetwear, from lingerie to tailored suits – collectors hunt for textile treasures, curating and preserving them with devotion. But what drives this passion? What transforms a simple garment into a coveted collectible?

The exhibition immerses itself in the fascination of collecting and poses questions about property, responsibility and excess. It offers insight into the Textile Museum St. Gallen’s in-house collection as well as showing extracts from four private collections.

Pop culture and graphic design are reflected in exclusive T-shirts; a collection of refined underwear, which reflects the changing ideals of female beauty, provides a glimpse ‘underneath’; unique sets tailored from patterns by haute couturiers in Switzerland enchant the public; stylish suits and elegant accessories represent men’s fashion from the 1920s to the 1940s.  The exhibition is complemented by important pieces from the Textile Museum own collection, which preserves the rich textile history of St. Gallen and eastern Switzerland. They demonstrate how a collection conveys knowledge and provides inspiration – but also the challenges that come with preserving this cultural heritage.

Visitors are encouraged to give this some thought, to consider their own wardrobe and possibly their own collecting habits: do we consciously put together our closet or do our clothes just pile up? How do we find a personal style beyond fashion trends? In the tension between a fascination for and an abundance of clothes, (over-) consumption also comes into focus – and the fine line that exists between targeted collecting and indiscriminate accumulation.

In the art installation Lumpensammlerin (Collector of Rags) (2024), artist Andrea Vogel takes up this theme, showing the unexpected places where discarded textiles end up – and what can be created from them. In the second artistic intervention, photographer Rebecca Bowring takes as her subject the legacy of private collections and the emotional value of textile memorabilia in her series l'étreinte (2020).

We are very pleased to collaborate with the private collectors Rosmarie Amacher, Marcus Gossolt, Reto Salis Gross and Beata Sievi  and the artists Andrea Vogel and Rebecca Bowring.

Thank you!

DR. FRED STYGER STIFTUNG

HANS UND WILMA STUTZ STIFTUNG

The temporary exhibition at the Textile Museum on the occasion of the Women's European Championship in Switzerland will make football fans' hearts beat faster. Selected European national jerseys from women's football over the last few decades are on display. Each jersey tells an individual story and shows how closely identity, success and textiles are linked in women's football.
The exhibition gathers around 20 objects from the relatively young history of women's football - each with a specific connection to the textile city of St.Gallen. All of the jerseys on display were loaned by the players themselves. Among the special highlights are the jersey of Swiss Madeleine Boll, the world's first licensed player, the goalkeeper gloves of German-Swiss Kathrin Lehmann, and the record-breaking Welsh international Jess Fishlock, who will be celebrating her country's first European Championship appearance in Switzerland.

A visit to the Textile Museum will be doubly worthwhile during the European Women's Football Championship from 2-27 July 2025: Visitors with match tickets will receive discounted admission. On the match days taking place in St.Gallen on Friday 4 July, Wednesday 9 July and Sunday 13 July, the museum will remain open until 7 pm.

In this show, 45 contemporary quilt and textile artworks from 11 nations demonstrate that creativity, artistic inspiration and time-critical statements are not the sole preserve of painting, sculpture, graphics and photographic art. The high-calibre exhibits were selected by a five-member international jury from over 130 entries.
The development of the ‘quilt’ art form from a predominantly functional blanket to an autonomous work of art over the last 50 years is impressive. For example, the exhibition includes a floor object entitled ‘Polar bear, I don't want to be a polar bear, in the warm polar’, which is both three-dimensional and political.

The proportion of young female applicants was pleasingly high, with 7 of these artists making it into the exhibition. The prize for talented young quilters went to Slovakia for a three-dimensional work dealing with intergenerational cohesion.

The Swiss artist Judith Mundwiler, winner of the Doris Winter Memorial Prize in 2018, received the prize for innovation in a large format for her work ‘Fragments of Everyday Life’, a contemporary document made up of thought-provoking pieces of paper thrown onto Post It notes.

The Doris Winter Memorial Prize 2024 was once again shared this year between two equally worthy objects, both of which deal with the effects of brain diseases or overload: ‘Dementia - Sinking into Oblivion’ by Christa Ebert (Germany) and ‘Kopflast’ by Monika Sebert (Germany) both touch the viewer emotionally in different ways.

The 9th European Quilt Triennial will open at the Max Berk Textile Collection on 9 February 2025 and will be on display there until 4 May 2025. The St. Gallen Textile Museum will be showing the exhibition from 23 May 2025 up to and including 14 September 2025. Further stops of the travelling exhibition are planned. 

The Textile Museum St.Gallen presents the exhibition "Circle of Water. Textiles in Flux" and provides an insight into the multifaceted world of swimwear and outdoor fashion. 

In the exhibition, visitors immerse themselves with all their senses in the world of water-related textiles, experience the fascinating connection between mankind and nature and embark on a multimedia journey through time from the beginnings of waterproof fashion to today's high-tech textiles. On display are items of clothing and accessories specially designed for water activities, such as bikinis and ski suits made from PET bottles, biodegradable rain jackets - and umbrellas, of course!  

Fashion that we wear for swimming and bathing, but also clothing that protects us from rain and snow, has been and is often produced at the expense of the environment. In collaboration with textile companies and the Circular Lab at the University of St.Gallen, the Textile Museum will be presenting materials and techniques that show how fashion can be sustainable, environmentally friendly and water-friendly. In addition, lectures and workshops will be offered by experts who will share their knowledge about sustainable fashion and the circular economy. 

With the exhibition, the Textile Museum aims to help raise awareness of sustainable fashion and encourage visitors to explore the water cycle in the textile world.  

Thanks to the sponsor of the exhibition "Circle of Water. Textiles in Flux"

and the co-operation partner

in the scientific network with

The project was made possible thanks to the support of the Jubiläumsstiftung der Mobiliar Genossenschaft

as well as other supporters, foundations and lenders

GERDA TECHOW GEMEINNÜTZIGE STIFTUNG, Vaduz

The exhibition "All You CanNOT Eat" is modelled on a restaurant in which nothing edible or drinkable is on offer. Based on the collection at the Textilmuseum St. Gallen, the tables are laid by various guests with exhibits that depict food.

Different epochs, social classes and tastes encounter one another, creating connections. Human consumption of food is a fleeting moment. Human beings must absorb food and drink before it goes off and decays. What is eaten and drunk is removed from the social context by the act of consumption. To soften and prevent this ‘disappearance’, what is edible is shown and so recorded.

By means of an exhibition and series of events, All You CanNOT Eat investigates table culture in terms of fake food. In addition, prints and imitations of consumables in fashion are examined. 

Participatory project with the involvement of Association Verdre, Marta Birt, Beni Bischof, Tatiana Boiko, Kristina Bucheli, Julie Chauland, Collective Swallow by Anaïs Marti, Estelle Gassmann, Sven Gex, Sarena Huizinga, Infantium Victoria by Dinie van den Heuvel, Terézia Krnáčová, Lapidar (Jessica Celis, Salomon Elsler, Elena Völkle, Nadine Werner), Alfred Leuzinger/ open art museum, Léonie Ludovicy, Pauline Lutz, Madame Europe, Madame Tricot, Yves Meier, Pusha Petrov, Carlo Rampazzi, Joan Sallas, Sinnlich Essen (Sabrina Berger, Cajetana Oechslin, Larissa Riesen, Lisa Rubio), Natalia Solo-Mâtine, Sabina Speich, taktik:haptik (Lisa Blaser, Zora Weidkuhn, Nathan Werlen), Tischgesellschaft (Jana Besimo, Valerie Meta Ehrenbold, Lisa Schöpflin).  

Curator: Dr. Alexandra Schüssler

Are you interested in the participating designers and artists or would you like to browse through our cocktail menu and menu at your leisure or read one or two of Uwe Schütte's texts?

Download the cocktail menu and menu here.

The exhibition is part of the Esswelten project

Thank you

Textiles are omnipresent. Tens of thousands of people once earned their living in the region that was (Eastern) Switzerland designing, producing and trading textiles. Nowadays, they envelope and surround us from dawn to dusk. Good Fabric – what is that? How has it changed in the past, what shape will it take in future?

Good Fabric helps in all situations in life: textiles accompany us through life like a second skin, protect us, convey a sense of togetherness and create identity. Moreover, thanks to our clothing, we constantly communicate non-verbally – and sometimes highly expressively – with our surroundings. In addition, (home) textiles allow both working and private rooms to appear functional, comfortable and impressive at the same time.

Good Fabric promotes creativity: textiles catch the eye and are an expression of our way of living. Since the 19^th century, the Textilmuseum has collected and preserved textile artefacts, documenting creative design processes and the spirit of technical inventiveness. The colours, forms, patterns and materials of the unique St. Gallen collection arouse the senses of visitors and lend wings to designers’ imaginations. The current creations that arise from this can be admired in the exhibition.

Good Fabric sells globally: for centuries, textiles were among the most important of Swiss export hits. Up until the 20^th century, St. Gallen embroidery, Zürich silks or prints from Glarus found purchasers the world over. In the inter-war period, the Swiss textile industry collapsed, with only producers and merchants in niche products surviving. Today, demand is primarily for smart ‘textile solutions’ in the fields of medicine, mobility and architecture.

Drawing on alluring objects that range from glamorous stage dresses to the informative sample book and practical climbing rope, the Permanent Exhibition welcomes visitors to embark on an exploratory tour. In this, Good Fabric can be experienced with all the senses: thus, historical film footage takes viewers into cotton-weaving in Thurgau, while witnesses from the time concerned reveal the sources of their creative inspirations; textile raw materials can be touched, as can working techniques; and both children and adults are invited to come to the drawing table to try their hand at designing fabrics and clothes.

Anyone who grows weary from the many impressions and tasks can recover in the textile ‘oasis of wellbeing’ designed by the traditional St. Gallen company Christian Fischbacher. Overall, Good Fabric, on show from 12^th May 2023, offers visitors the chance to delve into the fascinating world of textiles.

Scenography: Studio DAS
Graphics: TGG Visuelle Kommunikation

No clothes without material! The exhibition is devoted to textile raw materials, their production and processing in the clothing industry. Costumes and fabrics from 1800 to the present day illustrate the variety and beauty of textile material, showing their influence on fashion through the ages.

‘MATERIAL MATTERS’ investigates the relationship between material and fashion with the aid of selected items of clothing from the last 200 years. The exhibition questions what influence such factors as specific material characteristics or the availability and pricing of raw materials have on fashion. But social developments and rising prosperity also influence the fashion industry, as do heightened ecological sensitivity and innovations in textile technology, and all these factors change our clothing habits.

One important area within the exhibition is the fibre cabinet. Here, the production and processing of natural and synthetic textile raw materials are examined in detail, from the fibre and the yarn, through to the material itself. Interactive applications, have-a-go stations and games draw in visitors of all ages to explore a complex and fascinating subject. One of the main themes concerns the environmental compatibility of the various materials and processes.

In times of fast fashion, our appreciation of the value of textiles seems to have got lost. The exhibition ‘MATERIAL MATTERS. From Fibre to Fashion’ aims to counteract this by informing visitors about the costly and resource-intensive production processes and by showing them the beauty and variety of textile objects. The exhibition runs from May 15, 2020 up to (and including) January 2021 in the Textilmuseum St. Gallen. The fibre cabinet will remain open for the duration of the exhibition, until year-end 2021.

Thank you
Steinegg-Stiftung and TW Stiftung

In the lounge of the Textile Museum we present a selection of fabrics from the current autumn/winter collections of Swiss textile manufacturers.

Natural shades such as brown and green herald the autumn and glittering fabric combinations in festive colours accompany the winter season. The Swiss textile manufacturers will be showing innovations in lingerie, home textiles, ladies' and men's clothing. The designs range from different embroidery techniques and a variety of fabrics to the use of recycled materials. The colours gold and silver are highlighted in combination with strong colours. The exhibition makes visible the further development in the field of technique, materials and designs. In addition, Swiss Textiles will be showing a presentation on developments in the textile industry.

Thank you!

Alumo, Appenzell ǀ Bandfabrik Breitenbach AG, Breitenbach ǀ Bischoff Group, St. Gallen ǀ Christian Fischbacher Co. AG, St. Gallen ǀ Embrex, Embroideries Ltd., Au ǀ Eugster + Huber, Collection by Tamando, Herisau ǀ Filtex AG, St. Gallen ǀ Forster Rohner AG, St. Gallen ǀ Inter-Spitzen AG, St. Gallen ǀ ISA Sallmann AG, Amriswil ǀ Jakob Schlaepfer AG, St. Gallen ǀ Laib Yala Tricot AG, Amriswil ǀ Leinenweberei Bern, AG, Bern ǀ Schlossberg Textil AG, Turbenthal ǀ Serge Ferrari AG, Eglisau ǀ Stotz & Co. AG, Zürich ǀ Textil Tricot Vogt GmbH ǀ Tisca Tischhauser AG, Bühler ǀ Union AG, St. Gallen ǀ weba Weberei Appenzell AG, Appenzell ǀ Weseta Textil AG, Engi

In addition to the exhibition ‘100 Shades of White. A Colour in Fashion’, the installation ‘GOLD _ Zimmer #0’ by artist Alessandra Beltrame is on show in the Textilmuseum lounge.

In the installation ‘GOLD _ Room #0’ conceived specially for the Textilmuseum St. Gallen, artist Alessandra Beltrame sounds out the demarcation lines between the habitual and outrageous. She wraps everyday objects in gold leather, playing with the viewer’s perception. New socio-political connections arise in this way. The artist thus weaves a path of translation, as she herself describes it, ‘whereby perception is shifted to a point beyond the safe delineation of the habitual, so as to enable during the act of viewing the formulation of a different interpretation, of an apparent reality.’

Alessandra Beltrame lives and works in St. Gallen and Venice.

Thank you

A quilted fabric connects the cities of Vorarlberg, Lagos, St. Gallen, Vienna and Dakar; it testifies the lasting entanglement of textiles, trade, and terror. Documenting a quilted journey of encounters and collaborations, it recalls the heritage of colonialism and power, community and belonging. The fabric unravels threads of violence; it pursuits the longing for an otherwise, and strives to mend and weave new relations. As we experiment with different textile-making techniques like stitching, dyeing, printing or repairing, we search for the making of connections within and beyond the colonial heritage.

Participating artists: Anette Baldauf, Milou Gabriel, Sasha Huber, Janine Jembere, Susanna Delali Nuwordu, Abiona Esther Ojo, Jumoke Sanwo, Mariama Sow, Katharina Weingartner.

In the spotlight: couture and Swiss fabrics. The exhibition ‘Mise en Scène’ combines international photographic art with the regional textile industry, illustrating more than 120 years of fashion, photography and social history.

Fashion photographs tell stories not only about clothes, but about body images and ways in which roles are perceived, too: from the liberated silhouettes of the 1920s to the glamorous femininity of the post-war period, up to the self-confident, highly varied representations of the present day. In this way, fashion photography becomes a mirror of social change – and a showcase for the Swiss textile industry, the products of which have been a standard feature of international fashion events for many years. 

Mise en Scène brings together works by renowned photographers and studios such as Séeberger Frères, Atelier d’Ora Benda, Helmut Newton, Peter Knapp, Jeanloup Sieff and Iwan Baan. Along with textiles and fashion from Forster Rohner, Jakob Schlaepfer, Akris and other Swiss companies, the exhibition establishes a fascinating dialogue between international photographic art and the textile tradition typical of Eastern Switzerland.

Another side of the fashion industry is highlighted in the series ‘Portrait of a Swiss Company’, which can be seen at the same time in the lounge of the Textile Museum: in 1972, Barbara Davatz created impressive portraits of workers at the textile company Walser AG in Herisau.

Thank you

Bertold-Suhner-Stiftung

E. Fritz und Yvonne Hoffmann-Stiftung

Designed on Lake Constance. Sewn on the Drina. Textile art across borders. For over 30 years.
The Bosna Quilt Workshop began in the Galina refugee centre in Frastanz near the Vorarlberg town of Feldkirch. Some of the almost 90,000 refugees who sought refuge in Austria from the Bosnian war (1992-95) had found a place to stay here. The idea of bringing artists together with refugee women gave rise to an employment project in 1993, to which the painter Lucia Lienhard-Giesinger also committed herself. Contrary to all initial expectations, the collaboration between the women was to outlast the end of the war and their return home.

Designed in Bregenz (A) by the initiator and artistic director of the Bosna Quilt Workshop, Lucia Lienhard-Giesinger. And sewn by one of eleven Bosnian women from the town of Goražde. Each of them has her own handwriting, which she translates into skilful stitching.

The result is a Bosna quilt - a collaboration between two women from different worlds.

Selected Bosna quilts will be presented in the lounge of the Textile Museum St.Gallen from 9 May to 29 June 2025. The show opens on Thursday, 8 May 2025 at 6.00 pm with a presentation of Lucia Lienhard-Giesinger's Bosna Quilt workshop. This will be followed by an aperitif, which will provide an opportunity for contemplation and dialogue.

A Horizon research project on the use of key digital technologies in the recording and visualisation of textile cultural heritage.Textile products and the crafts and traditions associated with them, as addressed by TEXTaiLES, hold a central and pivotal role in European history. Despite recent methodological advances in European textile research, digitisation of textile CH objects has not received sufficient attention.
This lack of attention can be attributed to the significant technical challenges posed by textile objects, mainly stemming from their soft and pliable nature, the minute scale of dimensions of their primary structure and the inherent sensitivity they exhibit to degradation agents.
TEXTaiLES’ mission is to employ key emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), 3D digitization, Internet of Things (IoT), Cloud/Edge Computing, Robotics, Digital Twins (DTs) to capture and visualise the visible and nonvisible characteristics of textiles in cultural heritage.

Case Study Texilmuseum

The project runs from 2025-2028 and is funded by the European Community as part of the Horizon Europe programme.

This work has received funding from the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI)

Partner

Marianne Burki in conversation with historian Andreas Zangger and TaDA residents.

At two roundtables, experts from various disciplines will discuss the intricate paths of textile creation. With historian Andreas Zangger, TaDA residents Pascal Heimann, Axelle Stiefel, Carolina Forss and others.

As part of the exhibition 8th EUROPEAN QUILT TRIENNALE, we are offering a public guided tour on Easter Monday.

Participation in the approximately one-hour guided tour is free of charge, you only have to pay admission to the museum. The meeting point is at 11 a.m. in the foyer of the Textile Museum. Registration is not required.

Besucherservice

+41 71 228 00 10
info@textilmuseum.ch

In 1972 the photographer Barbara Davatz placed the entire workforce of Firma H. Walser, a textile printing and thread manufacturing company in Zürchersmühle (AR), in front of the camera. In this way, she portrayed 38 men and women, noting the name, birth date, nationality and trade or area of activity of each employee.

The result is a multi-layered photographic work which in its calm, unsentimental objectivity bears witness to social commitment, openness and a sense of attentiveness. While the series can be interpreted as a reaction to the so-called Schwarzenbach Initiative, the portraits represent something much more than a snapshot: they have turned into succinct evidence of a world of work that no longer exists, reflecting questions of identity, belonging and humanity that extend beyond their time.

The ‘Portrait of a Swiss Company’ is being presented in parallel with the exhibition ‘Mise en Scène’, which shows another side of the textile industry: highly staged fashion photography.

About the artist

Barbara Davatz has worked for forty years as a professional photographer and created independent, artistic projects. Her work is marked by precise observation, conceptual clarity and special attention to relationships between people.

Among her most well-known works can be counted ‘Portrait of a Swiss Company’, the photo series titled ‘As Time Goes by’, ‘Beauty Lies Within’, ‘Doppelgänger’ and ‘Gsüün’, in which she investigates over many years such themes as identity, transformation and belonging within society. In addition, she devotes herself to landscape photography, such as the series ‘Heaven and Earth’ and ‘May Green’, in which she blends observation of nature with subjective perception.

The photograph of the former textile printing and thread manufacturing company H. Walser AG, Zürchersmühle, which we are showing on this website, was taken by Jürg Zürcher. It was taken for the exhibition project ‘Iigfädlet’ (2017).