MATRILINEAL THREADS
SUNDAY 22 FEBRUARY
2:00PM + 3:30PM
EXHIBITION
Matrilineal Threads honours the longstanding, often undervalued labour of women. This work has historically sustained households, preserved cultural knowledge, and built community. Drawing on Italian craft traditions and intergenerational textile practices, the exhibition reflects on how memory, skill and artistry move through time, carried by the hands of mothers, grandmothers and daughters.
At the centre of the exhibition are pieces created across three generations of women. Heirloom textiles sit alongside contemporary garments and visual artworks, positioning women’s domestic craft as both a record of the past and an active force in shaping the present. Rather than positioning these practices as domestic tasks, the exhibition recognises them as forms of artistry, emotional labour and cultural continuity.
The exhibition also includes a small retail component featuring artisan perfume and limited edition handbags by Valentina Valentino. These items extend the ideas of care, inheritance and material memory through wearable and sensory design, each created with intention and respect for its origins.
Matrilineal Threads invites visitors to reflect on the role women’s creativity has played in preserving traditions, building resilience and imagining future possibilities. It is an exhibition about what lasts and the ways knowledge and care are passed from one generation to the next.
Session one: 2:00pm – 3:30pm / Session two: 3:30pm – 5:00pm
Villa Alba Museum, 44 Walmer St, Kew
Tickets $18
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Ruby and Julie Valentino are the mother–daughter duo behind Valentina Valentino, a Melbourne-based label rooted in heritage, sustainability, and slow fashion. Together, they transform heirloom materials and inherited skills into contemporary expressions of memory and strength, celebrating the enduring beauty of intergenerational craft.
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For more information, please contact the event organiser:
Valentina Valentino
valentinavalentinostudio@gmail.com