Just Do It

According to Jacqueline Atkins, textiles curator at the Allentown Art Museum, that's exactly what many national governments across the globe have been doing -- using threads to spread a military agenda.

While studying in Japan, Atkins encountered kimonos and men's shirts featuring images of parachutes, planes and other graphic war scenes. Her interest was piqued immediately.

"What really drew me was the designs, because they range from the truly beautiful [to the] highly militaristic -- soldiers running through a field of exploding mines," she says.

Over six years, Atkins developed "Wearing Propaganda," an exhibit examining the phenomenon. More than 120 examples are on display, and a catalogue of essays written by various scholars accompanies the pieces.

"[The show] will help people see how the textiles fit into this larger scheme of things," says Atkins. "We don't think of textiles as propaganda. It's very personal. The idea of putting some of these images on your body makes war have a whole new meaning, because it makes it a personal statement as well as a public statement."