Judy Chicago: What If Women Ruled the World?
The Tel Aviv Museum of Art – Until 27 December 2025
Titled What If Women Ruled the World?, the project invites audiences worldwide to answer questions raised by Chicago and to add their voices to a physical and digital quilt woven from the responses of all participants. After stops in the United States, Mexico, Argentina, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany, the project makes its debut in the Middle East. The Museum invites viewers to step into an interactive booth, respond to questions, and take part in the work’s latest chapter.
A traditional craft of fabric reuse, quilting was widespread as early as the 17th and 18th centuries, especially among women in North America. Over time, it evolved into a family-based tradition, a medium for transmitting memories, emotions, and personal narratives, its products becoming cultural, political, and personal objects. Feminist artists later sought to reclaim this “feminine” craft, transforming it into a recognized form of fine art. In 2022, Chicago came together with DMINTI, a cultural organization at the intersection of art and technology, to conceive a global participatory project reviving the quilt tradition as a potent artistic medium.
Chicago believes in the healing power of art and art as a medium for social and political change. This participatory work now arrives at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, on loan from a private collection, marking its debut in a region shaped by traditional societies, where women continue to fight for personal safety, representation, and the right to be heard; an arena scarred by violent conflict and enduring inequality. The Tel Aviv Museum of Art hopes the quilt becomes a platform for fostering a discussion of a different tomorrow: a future where leadership is defined by empathy, collaboration.
