New Detroit art exhibition builds sci-fi story through woven cloth
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Textile works from "Portal Fire" by artist Levon Kafafian. Photos: Courtesy of Kafafian
What if you could step into a sci-fi tale set 1,000 years into the future? Starting Friday, the mobile home on the grounds of the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD) will do just that.
The big picture: Detroit-based artist Levon Kafafian has used woven cloth to bring a scene to life from their science fiction story "Portal Fire," set in the magical "Azadistan."
Between the lines: "Portal Fire" blends "Armenian spiritual tradition, practice and lore with expansive and ever-changing realities of its diaspora," says Kafafian, who is Armenian American, on their website.
What they're saying: In Kafafian's story, digital society has collapsed and a movement has taken place among ethnic groups in Southwest Asia to live in independence, they tell Axios.
- "There is a main character, a nonbinary orphan, who is the subject of prophecy and brings about a major shift in the world of Azadistan, which has gone from this egalitarian society to one where there is a hierarchy and one of the clans is dominant over the others."
The latest: While Kafafian envisions "Portal Fire" to eventually become a graphic novel, they are telling the story through different installations that combine storytelling and textile art.
Zoom in: The exhibition at MOCAD, "Portal Fire: Shrine of the Torchbearer," encompasses a cavern-like shrine with soft sculptures, wall hangings, carpets, a book and costumes that tell part of the story, with the main character and their best friend, two clerics, a crystalline artifact and a depiction of a hidden prophecy.
- A short story included in a pamphlet allows visitors to read the exhibition's scene.
Flashback: Kafafian got into textiles through a job at Hagopian World of Rugs. They also studied linguistics, foreign languages and anthropology while in university.
- Disillusioned with their college programs, Kafafian considered rug repair and was told to take a weaving class to see if they liked it.
- "Long story short, I fell in love with making work anew instead of doing repair, and I quit everything else and went full forward for weaving," they say.
- Their focus on how textiles transmit culture mixed with interest in speculative storytelling — and a desire to see science fiction stories by and about people of Southwest Asian descent — starting around 2016 to become "Portal Fire."
If you go: The exhibition at Mike Kelley's Mobile Homestead on MOCAD's property in Midtown opens with a reception for MOCAD's fall exhibitions on Friday, 6-9pm.
- "Portal Fire" runs through Feb. 23. The homestead's hours are 11am-8pm Thursday and Friday, and 11am-5pm Saturday and Sunday, according to the website.