THE ABSTRACT WEFT: PAULINA BRUGNOLI AND THE MUSEO DE ARTE CONTEMPORÁNEO’S TAPESTRY

Abstract

At the beginning of 1969, a tapestry woven by Paulina Brugnoli was acquired by the Museum of Contemporary Art of Universidad de Chile. The piece belongs to the applied arts collection, a group of objects that, besides textiles, includes enameled metals and ceramics. The objects that form this collection have not been studied at length –neither has the collection been examined as a whole. The aim of this text is to introduce some elements associated to the category of applied arts, to promote an understanding of the difficulties of doing research of this type of objects from an art historical perspective. Particularly, this article will introduce, as a case study, the defining formal and technical aspects of Brugnoli’s tapestry, woven after its author graduated from the School of Applied Arts of Universidad de Chile, and its exhibition history.