Global Textiles

The BMA’s Global Textiles collection reveals fabric as one of the world’s most powerful artistic media. More than 5,000 works created across 6 continents and over 2,000 years demonstrate how artists transformed fiber into expressions of identity, community, and innovation.

From ancient fragments and monumental tapestries to Indigenous fiber arts, Baltimore album quilts, and contemporary textile-based installations, the collection highlights extraordinary technical mastery and cultural continuity. Textile traditions often center women artists working collaboratively, passing skills and stories across generations.

Global textiles at the BMA invite visitors to look closely at the materials that surround them every day. In these woven, stitched, and printed works, fabric becomes a record of human connection—resilient, portable, and profoundly expressive.