WIDE HORIZONS X
SAQA Europe & Middle East
2026 - 2027
The expression Wide Horizons evokes openness, exploration, experimentation, new work, new themes, and new stories. Yet it can also suggest a deeper investigation of familiar subjects, seeing known ideas from fresh perspectives and pushing the boundaries of established practices. Whatever the chosen approach, creativity, artistic vision, and commitment to the medium should take precedence over technical skill alone.
Wide Horizons is SAQA Europe & Middle East's biennial juried exhibition program. Through an open call and international jury selection, each edition presents a new collection of art quilts that reflect the diversity, innovation, and evolving language of contemporary textile art.
Reviewing the finalists for Wide Horizons X, I am struck by the diversity of expression. From the joyful abstraction of Colour Storm to the sobering figurative depiction of people focused on their devices in Social Commentary, we can understand that there are different ways to see and experience the world. I also appreciate the range of techniques and materials. The artists have been discerning about their choice of media, from repurposed fabrics to custom surface design, and skillful in execution. Thank you for the opportunity to be a juror. I look forward to seeing the exhibition in the cloth in Alsace.
JUROR Brenda Gael Smith – Textile artist
It is a great honor to be a part of an international juror’s panel and work together with such prominent jurors as Brenda Gael Smith and Galla Grotto. To select a diverse collection is a matter of responsibility to highlight the most professional, the most contemporary and most characteristic art pieces.
The decision making was not easy as many quilts submitted demonstrate a similar high standard and equal level of technical ability but a closer evaluation of such design and composition principles as shape, movement, line, balance, texture and color, made the decision oftentimes clear and even obvious.
JUROR Elina L. Grinberga - M.A. in Textile Arts.
I believe it has resulted in a very good collection for Wide Horizons 10th edition: professional in execution and artistic expression, inspiring and covering a wide spectrum of themes.
The exhibition “Wide Horizons” brings together a diverse range of works created in different techniques and styles, forming a rich and multifaceted space of contemporary textile art. Each piece becomes a unique story told by the artist through visual language, imagery, and personal imagination. The broad theme gives creators the freedom to experiment and express themselves, making the exhibition especially dynamic and layered. Some works impress with bold and vivid ideas, while others stand out for their subtle technical exploration and unexpected solutions. Despite their differences, all the pieces are united by a shared intention to reveal the idea of “wide horizons,” showing how diverse and inspiring one’s view of the world can be. This exhibition encourages viewers to reflect on the endless possibilities of creativity and the inner freedom of art.
JUROR Galla Grotto – Textile artist and designer
Adelheid Risi (Switzerland)
Limitless
2025
Pieced prints, bobbinwork grid, sewn stripes
77 cm x 115cm
Although in real life we struggle daily with prohibitions, limitations, and hardships, our imagination remains limitless. In our thoughts, anything is possible. There are no bars, no borders, only an ever-present sense of freedom.
Alicia Merrett (United Kingdom)
Colour Storm
2025
Digital design altered with iPad apps, printed and stitched 74cm x 109cm
So many storms these days! Some quite dangerous. But not this one: this is a storm of colour, my favourite, bringing warmth and happiness rather than destruction.
Anne Bellas (France) Dialogue de Sourds (Parallel Worlds)
2022
Self-dyed fabrics, breakdown printing, pieced and quilted 90cm x 120cm
It feels as though you inhabit a separate reality. My words do not seem to reach you; you are not truly listening. Your attention drifts elsewhere, beyond my grasp. I long to connect, yet you keep slipping away. Genuine understanding begins simply: listen fully, with your whole attention.
Bella Kaplan (Israel)
Red View
2023
Hand-dyed fabric, screen printed, fused, appliquéd and quilted 86cm x 117cm
I explore the power of red as the central element of a landscape, moving away from traditional greens and browns. My red landscape expresses vitality, passion, and a deep connection to the earth. It is both powerful and quiet, inviting viewers to feel nature’s inner pulse.
Birgitta Jadenfelt (Sweden)
The Flame and the Fire
Machine pieced, quilted on a longarm frame
107cm x 97cm
The flame burns steadily and is instantly recognisable, bringing comfort and safety.
Fire, however, is unstable, ever-changing and unpredictable. This piece combines both: the order of flame and the shifting nature of fire. Nr. 4 in the Herringbone Studies series.
Christa Ebert (Germany)
Towers in a Thunderstorm
2022
Crazy patchwork, machine pieced, machine quilted
99cm x 120cm
The intention was to create an abstract image using freely cut shapes within a fixed colour scheme. Tower-like structures emerged against a dark sky streaked with lightning. They seem to move, dodging it. A reflection of today’s world.
Christine Amelie Bünning (Germany) Opening the Horizon
2026
Textile collage, appliqué, machine stitching, layered construction 70cm x 91cm
The opening of the horizon is not a distant line but a boundary to be questioned and touched. Two hands intervene in the layered surface, creating an opening in it, a narrow space of uncertainty. The gaze passes through into an undefined space. The horizon is resistance rather than promise; it requires effort, touch, and engagement.
Claire M Voelkel-Sedlmeir (Germany)
It Is All There Before Her
2026
Text-as-quilting, embroidery, hand piecing, hand tying 80cm x 82cm
With a vintage film camera around her neck, she photographed NYC in black and white, unable to see beyond the skyline. Her path later led to a small German village, motherhood, and textile practice. This quilt tells my story and the wonder of horizons that open when we keep going.
Dana Danuta Owczarek (Poland) Social Commentary
2025
Raw edge appliqué, sewn on a home sewing machine
71cm x 78cm
The work 'Social Commentary' explores behaviour in contemporary social spaces. A grandfather and grandson sit together on a large pouffe.
Together yet apart, each absorbed in their own reading. It's bad for family bonds, but good for developing their interests. Which to choose?
Edith Bieri-Hanselmann (Switzerland) Stägeli uf - Stägeli ab - Juhe! (Going stairs up and down, yeh!)
2024
Improvisational piecing, machine quilting 78cm x 79cm
I explore rhythm, movement, and repetition.
Vertical strips suggest stairs, paths, and the ups and downs of life, celebrated in the Swiss song “Stägeli uf, Stägeli ab.” Bright colours and shifting structures create a dynamic flow. It celebrates moving forward, step by step, with joy and lightness and a cheerful “juhe.”
Ethelda Ellis Erasmus (Ireland)
Autumn Blues
2026
Collaged jeans basted with invisible thread and densely quilted 73cm x 99cm
The Midlands of Ireland, where we live, has many winding country roads and woods. I love walking them with the anticipation of new horizons around every corner. I am now exploring recycled denim to depict Irish landscapes across seasons, using autumnal coloured threads in this work.
Geneviève Attinger (France)
Heritage and Rupture
2025
Deconstructed textiles, dyed, quilted, packed jersey strips 84cm x 120cm
Heritage and rupture lie at the heart of tomorrow’s patchwork. We build from our roots while moving forward by breaking with them. I interpret this through deconstruction, reconstruction and fragmentation, transforming vintage textiles and depicting figures in traditional regional dress.
Helene Hein (Germany)
Out of the forge
2024
Whole cloth dyeing, printing, quilting and hand stitching
75cm x 70cm
Wide Horizons is a space for exploration and discovery. This work began as an experiment with dye discharge and breakdown printing, later developed through quilting and stitching. The process and textures recall metal from a forge, glowing, cooling, and transforming like fire in its shifting, magical forms.
Janet Twinn (UK)
A Delicate Balance 2
2023
Machine pieced, embroidered and quilted.
Hand dyed and screen printed fabric
119cm x 103cm
A Delicate Landscape 2 is part of a quilt series capturing a moment shaped by memory and perception. I focus on details that spark imagination: colour contrasts, shadowed lines, twigs and stems, rainenhanced tones and sunlight. The composition reflects natural energy and a sense of depth.
Jette Clover (Belgium)
Urban Poetry 2
2024
Painting, printing, collage, hand stitching, machine quilting 115cm x 103cm
My work is characterised by layering and texture. I am drawn to aged, distressed surfaces, influenced by wabi-sabi and its beauty in imperfection, impermanence and incompleteness. I love city walls layered with posters and graffiti, fragments of urban poetry appearing, disappearing, and reappearing.
Jo Avery (UK) February Landscape
2026
Improvisational piecing, curves, hand quilting, embroidery
75cm x 81cm
An appreciation of nature in deep winter. February brings longing for spring, but I try to find beauty in stillness and starkness by creating a stitched fantasy landscape. Freehand curve piecing, soft woven fabrics, hand quilting, embroidery and sashiko evoke bare branches and quiet fields.
Karin von Lerber (Switzerland)
Red Poppy (papaver rhoeas)
2022
Machine-pieced and inserted into background, machine-quilted 79cm x 79cm
The structures and colour combinations in nature are astonishing and bold. Often, details only appear in macro photography, like the light pink speckles inside a poppy, the dark forms at the petal base, and the orange anthers contrasting with the bright red petals.
Leah Higgins (UK) Shoreline V
2026
Breakdown printing, layered paper/fabric, appliquéd and quilted 119cm x 119cm
Inspired by the North Ayrshire coast, this work reflects the movement of sky, sea and land, where light meets earth in constant change holding both hope and despair. The Shoreline series marks a shift from Manchester to coastal Scotland and from industrial themes to more abstract, emotional work with unreadable text.
Lena Meszaros (France) Movement
2024
Mixed media techniques, fusing, free-motion quilting
114cm x 79cm
Movement tells of departure driven by events, history or climate change. We imagine a better elsewhere, but must decide what to take and what to leave behind. Uprooted, we rebuild while carrying our origins. A quilt of loss, hope, and the constant movement of life.
Marijke Van Welzen (Netherlands)
Coral Reef
2024
Textile collage, thermofax printing, stitching, quilting
80cm x 120cm
Coral reefs are vibrant ecosystems teeming with life and home to countless marine species. Unfortunately, oceans are under threat, and coral bleaching is damaging these fragile habitats. Rising temperatures stress corals, causing loss of colour. We must appreciate and protect these underwater wonders.
Maryte Collard (Lithuania)
Summer Vibe #2
2025
Machine piecing, domestic machine quilting
76cm x 91cm
Last summer I felt excited and happy and I wanted to express my happiness by making a few quilts using beautifully colored fabrics and some orphan blocks. Here is the result.
Miranda Renard (Spain)
Resisting the blues
2026
Machine pieced. Machine quilted. Faced edge
96cm x 113cm
I chose a palette of pinks, reds and yellows as a joyful antidote to my feelings about the current state of the world. Yet as the work developed, the blues kept creeping in, disrupting the joyfulness.
Regula Affolter (Switzerland)
Winter Games #156/2026
2026
Screenprint, drawing and quilting on fabric
104cm x 120cm
Leisure and the spirit of the times leave their mark. Through colour, form and figurative expression, I explore dynamism, structure, speed and personal challenges shaped by the contemporary context. The “extras”, though unseen, make every race possible, turning a simple run into a professional event.
Rhoda Bennett (Luxembourg)
The Sky is the Limit
2026
Block making and printing, fabric collage, free motion quilting, hand stitching 81cm x 109cm
We reach for the light, knowing the sky is not a ceiling but a vast space to grow into. Even as leaves fall, branches soar. This piece explores tree forms and their stories. We are like trees, each with our own story, and my block prints reveal part of mine.
Tina Sommer Paaske (Denmak)
Rising or setting
2025
Raw edge fused applique, freehand machine quilted
77cm x 120cm
When life is hard, no matter how hard, you always have a choice to either work on rising above it or let it drag you down.
