“Five Fathoms Deep” – crochet coral wall painting at Museum Frieder Burda, 2022.
In 2022, Museum Frieder Burda in Germany presented a museum-wide retrospective of the Crochet Coral Reef highlighting the project’s mathematical, scientific, and environmental dimensions. Titled Wert und Wandel der Korallen (Value and Transformation of Corals), the exhibition surveyed the 17-year history of this interdisciplinary, global, eco-artistic happening by turning the gallery into a submarine paradise. Along with the existing collection of crochet reefs by Christine Wertheim and Margaret Wertheim, were several new sculptures by the Wertheim’s, including two delicate Nudibranch Reefs and a large-scale embroidered Sampler honoring the Reef project’s most dedicated contributors.
Also on display was a vast community-made reef constructed with the people of Germany and consisting of over 40,000 coral pieces. By far the largest crochet reef to date, this Baden-Baden Satellite Reef was a unique curatorial collaboration between the Wertheim sisters and 4000+ crocheters across the German speaking world. The resulting constellation of sculptures included six giant, three-dimensional coralline islands each composed from thousands of coral pieces, and a series of wall-sized coral “paintings” in which crochet pieces were employed like daubs of paint to create stunning two-dimensional reliefs. These powerful woolen tableaus simultaneously reference Claude Monet’s water-lilies, the painterly chaos of Jackson Pollock, and traditional communal quilt-making.
Exhibition Dates: January 29 – June 26, 2022
Location: Museum Frieder Burda, Baden Baden, Germany
The exhibition is accompanied by a 250 page full-color book, published in German and English.
Exhibition webpage + photo gallery:
Book webpage:
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Book cover “Margaret and Christine Wertheim: Value and Transformation of Corals” Weinand Verlag, 2022.