Chinese Patchwork: Ancient Origins, New Expressions by Nancy Berliner

Patchwork has a long history in China, tracing its roots back almost two thousand years to the arrival of Buddhism in the region. Across millennia, a thread can be traced from spiritual practitioners embracing patchwork textiles to their use in secular culture, eventually leading to a form of functional domestic decoration—and an outlet for artistic ingenuity—that continues in parts of China’s countryside today.

The first English-language book on the subject, Chinese Patchwork (MFA Publications, 2025) explores the creativity of twentieth- and twenty-first-century Chinese makers who stitch fabric remnants into functional, decorative, and auspicious textiles for their homes and family. Nancy Berliner, Wu Tung Senior Curator of Chinese Art and exhibition curator at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), traveled to many villages in northern China, interviewing artists and collecting the works directly from the makers and their descendants. Photographs of works in situ by American photographer Lois Conner beautifully illustrate the art form’s bold visual presence.

This publication accompanies the exhibition “One Hundred Stitches, One Hundred Villages” currently on view at the MFA through May 3, 2026.