Dedar & Stephen Burks Join Forces With Gee's Bend Quilters in Honor of Black Handcraft
The Italian textile manufacturer donated fabrics for a special collection of 10 quilts made by designer Stephen Burks and the historically-rooted Gee’s Bend quiltmakers.
Summary
- Italian fabric label Dedar and designer Stephen Burks have partnered with the quiltmakers of Gee’s Bend, Alabama, to create 10 new pieces, showcased at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale.
Italian textile purveyor Dedar has united with designer Stephen Burks and non-profit Sew Gee’s Bend Heritage Builders to create a special collection of quilts rooted in Alabama’s rich quilting tradition, passed down from generation to generation.
Burks, the first and only African American industrial design practice to win the National Design Award in Product Design, participated in a week-long workshop with the local quiltmakers, culminating in 10 large-scale pieces using textiles donated by Dedar. The resulting quilts, featuring Dedar fabrics like Tiger Mountain and Jamu Jungle, follow the traditional structures of the tradition while adding movement with modern touches.
Over the 20th century, the quilts came to serve as a medium for collective authorship and resistance in the face of inequality. At the height of the Civil Rights Movement, the quilts became a key source of income in support of jailed and disenfranchised activists in the American struggle for racial equity.
With works showcased in museums like The Met and The Whitney, the historic Gee’s Bend quilting tradition has garnered a timeless appeal that speaks to today’s appetite for bold geometry, rhythmic asymmetry, and use of repurposed materials. The collection’s unveiling at the United States Pavilion at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale marks the first time contemporary Gee’s Bend quilts have been made in collaboration with a global design house and presented on the world stage in this format.
See the gallery above for a closer look at the new pieces, as well as photographs taken on the ground in the Gee’s Bend community.
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