exhibitions

introduction

On this page, we highlight contemporary short-term exhibitions, beginning with the most recent, within the United States and beyond. These typically feature heirloom Armenian needlelace pieces, either exclusively or as part of a broader showing of Armenian textiles, including embroidery and crochet. While there are notable differences between the motivations and installation styles of the exhibitions, they all share a goal of visibilizing the creative and sociocultural strengths and struggles of the makers. The exhibitions are based in the United States except as noted.

We find that most public collections that have significant holdings of Armenian needlelace display a portion publicly, while others, usually those with smaller collections, do not. In either case, as can often happen with art practices dismissively categorized as “women’s work” or “ethnic/folk art” worldwide, there is typically little to no  information about individual makers retained and presented on exhibition labels.

Notably, Janyak: Armenian Art of Knots and Loops, curated by Gassia Armenian at the Fowler Museum in Los Angeles, is perhaps the first and only exhibition to feature the works of a single needlelace artist whose name and story are known and prominently shared. This exhibition served to counterbalance the pressures to silence women’s voices—and of Armenians as a whole.

If you represent an institution that organized, or plans to organize, an exhibition featuring Armenian needlelace and would like it to be added to the list below, please email us.

recent exhibitions

Threads of Hope: Collections of Heirlooms Rescued from Suffering to Reflect on the Miraculous Revival of Armenian Life

Ararat-Eskijian Museum, Mission Hills, California, curated by Hratch Kozybeyokian (June 1 to 15, 2025)

• Presented by the Ararat-Eskijian Museum, the California State University, Northridge Armenian Studies program, and the Armenian Rugs Society, an exhibition displaying two hundred fifty laces and embroideries selected from of the Ararat-Eskijian’s collection of more than one thousand needlework pieces made in the the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Armenian Needlelace: Poetry in Thread

Lacis Museum of Lace and Textiles, Berkeley, California, curated by Elise Youssoufian (August 9, 2024 to June 14, 2025)

• Exhibition featuring over fifty exemplary needlelace works from Lacis Museum's collection, centering integral and poetic interconnections with Armenian struggles, symbols, and spiritualities.

Janyak: Armenian Art of Knots and Loops

Fowler Museum, University of California at Los Angeles, curated by Gassia Armenian (April 23, 2023 to April 7, 2024). 

• Exhibition of fourteen intricate needlelace doilies created by genocide survivor, social worker, and community leader Marie Pilibossian (1898–1986), on display for the first time after she donated her works to the Fowler Museum in the 1980s. Interview with curator Gassia Armenian.

Survived Embroideries

History Museum of Armenia, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia (November 29, 2023 to unknown)

• Needlework exhibition of historic collars, laces, tablecloths, bed covers, towels, and more, organized in collaboration with the Grung branch of the Armenian Relief Society.

Armenian Needlework: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow

Hovhannes Tumanyan Museum, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia (October 30, 2021 to unknown)

• Exhibition of diverse schools of Armenian needlework, with samples made in the the seventeenth to twentieth centuries curated from the archives of the Shushi Carpet Museum and collections of Hrazdan Tokmajyan and Narek Van Ashughatoyan, as well as original works by modern Armenian masters.

Armenia: Creating Home

Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Washington DC (June 27 to July 1 and July 4 to 8, 2018)

• Organized in partnership with notable artists and organizations from the Republic of Armenia, the festival featured key elements of Armenian cultural heritage, including: needlelace and other Armenian needlework traditions, their historic role in giving women ways to express themselves and provide for their families, and live demonstrations by contemporary makers.

Heartstrings: Embracing Armenian Needlelace, Embroidery, and Rugs

Lynn Museum, Lynn, Massachusetts, curated by Kate Luchini (February 11 to June 17, 2017)

• Exhibition featuring textiles from the personal collections of several leaders in the Boston area Armenian-American community, whose families were able to save some of their foremothers’ needlelace, embroidery, and carpets, which were either brought with them when they emigrated to the United States in the early 1900s or were created after they found refuge.