Quilter unknown, Strips (Texas), 1940s-1950s, cotton and flour sack back, 213 x 168cm

Photos: Collection of Corrine Riley / Courtesy of Ricco/Maresca Gallery

Behind every quilt, there is a story. Stitched, appliquéd, patched, stuffed or woven, a quilt reveals the daily fabric of those lives whose hands and hearts brought its pieces together. And like a storyteller, the quilt narrates ancient histories and cultures.

As a technique, quilting dates back thousands of years. It probably originated in Asia and developed in Europe as early as the 1300s. Knights of the Crusades learned that their enemies wore thick quilted garments under their armor as protection. Later in the 14th century, quilting was used in bedcovers and in clothing, usually fashioned from leftover scrap material. In the 1700s, European immigrants brought quilting to America, where the techniques and designs have flourished.

In the 1970s, museums worldwide celebrated the craft as an art form with crowd-pleasing exhibitions. But the face of quilting changed forever when art collector William Arnett came across a photograph of a piece created by an African-American woman living in Alabama. Dazzled by the designs and colors, he quickly set off to the town of 700, where he found a community of women creating boldly original African-influenced quilts. Used for their simple practicality (and sometimes burned to keep away mosquitoes), these poor rural women had been quilting for generations, copying and recreating the designs they’d learned from their slave ancestors. A 2002 exhibition of their quilts at the Houston’s Museum of Fine Arts put Gee’s Bend on the art-world map, sparking global interest in this fascinating craft with roots in African culture and textile techniques.

Quilter unknown, Double-sided Work Clothes Quilt: Bars (Georgia), 1940s, denim, 193 x 163cm

Quilter unknown, Double-sided Quilt: Strips (Georgia), 1930s-1940s, wools and cotton, 218 x 152cm

African-American quilt patterns and shapes are typically large with strong contrasting colors. In areas of Africa, villages would display quilts to greet visitors, so they had to be visible from a distance in strong sunlight. Complex colorful patterns were considered prestigious and worn by important people. The long narrow strips of cloth often seen in African-American quilts comes originally from a design woven by men in West Africa and the Caribbean, and once used as a form of currency.

Yukiko Koide, an independent curator and expert in the genre called Outsider Art, saw the Gee’s Bend quilt show in the US and proposed the idea of an African-American quilt show to Shiseido Gallery, which had held a groundbreaking quilt show in 1975. “Like Outsider Artists, these quilters produce very strong images,” she says. “They have no formal art training and simply create in a natural way that suits their own aesthetics, with very limited resources. They also don’t recognize themselves as artists.”

Koide discovered Corrine Riley, a well-known quilter and professional quilt restorer based in Chicago, has a large collection of rare African-American pieces that she loans to museums for exhibitions. Koide and Shiseido chose the 20 pieces now in the show, mostly from Alabama and other locations in the American south.

“It’s interesting to see which quilts were chosen for the show,” said Riley. “Some are the more subdued type. Most people start off that way. Then after looking at them for awhile, like myself, you tend to respond to the bolder garish ones. You come to understand the improvisational aspect. These quilts tend to move your eyes around a lot, just like a painting. There’s a lot of interaction.”

Quilter unknown, Strips (Texas), 1930s, corduroy and cotton, 208 x 173cm

Riley first saw an African-American quilt show in the early ’80s, and was so impressed that she traveled throughout the US and sought them out. At first people asked her why she wanted those “old rags.” Now, however, quilts are so popular that they’re almost impossible to find, with price tags ranging from $1,000-$20,000. “It’s a part of history that is gone,” she said. “Even among the African-American community, people just don’t take the time anymore. Now the Gee’s Bend women are commissioned to make new quilts that can sell up to $30,000. The old ones, though, have more character.”

“I think quilting is so popular in Japan because we have a long tradition of textile crafts like sashiko,” says Shiseido curator Tomoko Okamura. “So far, Hawaiian and early American traditional quilting have been most popular here, and quilters often combine styles with old kimono materials. But with these African-American quilts, quilters can learn different styles, patterns and techniques. Normally we show contemporary art exhibitions, but these quilts offer a new point of view to both quilters and art lovers.”

Shiseido Gallery, until October 14. See exhibition listings (Ginza) for details.