SWAY, HAMPSHIRE, UK.- ArtSway presents arttextiles3, on view through September 4, 2005. arttextiles3 is the third major survey of British contemporary textiles. Occurring every two years, the aim of the exhibition is to explore the shifting practices of artists who work with and around textiles.

Eighteen artists were invited to take part in the exhibition after a rigorous selection process undertaken by an international jury including Documenta IX co-curator Sarat Maharaj, Ikon Gallery Director Jonathan Watkins and arttextiles3 curator Barbara Taylor. The work of the featured artists provides an insight into some of the best and most challenging textile-based work being created in Britain today. The exhibition aims to stimulate interest in a medium that is often overlooked or neglected, and will demonstrate that contemporary textiles is a potent area within the visual arts at the start of the Twenty-first Century.

From arresting and innovative use of materials, to artworks that challenge how we normally perceive textiles, arttextiles3 will provoke and entertain audiences of all ages. The exhibition, which showcases established artists' work alongside emerging newcomers, includes Andrea Stokes lace curtains made entirely from butter, which will be displayed in ArtSway's shop, and Interior Worlds - a series of site-specific installations by Gerard Williams set in the windows of ArtSway's education space.

Barbara Taylor, curator of arttextiles3, says: "this exhibition is a major update on the world of textiles in art, and it poses some challenging questions about the nature of the medium. The work in the show is less about textile techniques but about the common everyday stuff of fabric that we live with, that holds such significance in our lives. In that sense it's a groundbreaking exhibition. But it's also fun, and we hope that visitors to the exhibition will be stimulated and entertained by what they see."

The exhibition comes to ArtSway from Rugby Art Gallery, and was previously at Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums, Edinburgh City Art Centre, and originated at Bury St. Edmunds Art Gallery. After finishing at ArtSway, the exhibition will tour to Harley Gallery in Welbeck, before ending at the Devon Guild of Craftsmen in Bovey Tracey.