Enfilade

Judocus de Vos after the model by Philippe de Hond, La Rencontre des belligérants, tapestry from l’Art de la guerre, ca. 1718–24, Brussels
(Lausanne: Fondation Toms Pauli, donation Mary Toms)

◊    ◊    ◊    ◊    ◊

Now on view at mudac:

Times in Tapestry / Tisser son temps / Am Webstuhl der Zeit

Musée cantonal de design et d’arts appliqués contemporains, Lausanne, 7 November 2025 — 8 March 2026

mudac and Fondation Toms Pauli are proud to present this exhibition dedicated to tapestry as a vector for social and political discourse.

Goshka Macuga, Performance of Death of Marxism, Women of All Lands Unite, 2013, wool tapestry with two women wearing printed lycra suits, 560 × 290 cm, 2013.

Far from being confined to a decor­at­ive role, tapestry has always been a power­ful tool for storytelling. From medi­eval times to contem­por­ary creations, it provides a space for dialogue at the cross­roads of collective aspir­a­tions, histor­ical narrat­ives, and contem­por­ary issues. The exhib­i­tion brings together major works from the Toms collec­tion, woven in the pres­ti­gi­ous Brus­sels work­shops between 1660 and 1725, along­side contem­por­ary creations by Goshka Macuga and Grayson Perry. Tapestries, such as The History of Scipio Afric­anus and The Emper­ors Titus and Vespasian, depict glor­i­ous and symbolic epis­odes from Roman narrat­ives. At this occa­sion two tapestries will be presen­ted to the public for the first time, high­light­ing the value and prestige of this collec­tion, owned by the State of Vaud.

These histor­ical master­pieces reson­ate with the power­ful creations of Goshka Macuga and Grayson Perry. Through tapestries such as Perry’s The Vanity of Small Differ­ences and bespoke works by Macuga, the exhib­i­tion explores contem­por­ary themes of social struggle, critiques of consumer soci­ety, and power dynam­ics. For this occa­sion, Macuga will create a unique textile work, specially created in dialogue with the Toms collec­tion, which will enhance the exhib­i­tion with a distinct­ive and contem­por­ary perspect­ive. The confront­a­tion of ancient and contem­por­ary works high­lights the time­less power of tapestry, with its visual language capable of convey­ing complex messages and foster­ing reflec­tion on univer­sal issues.

The exhibition press kit is available here»

More on the Toms Collection is available from the press release:

The Toms Collection is one of the most significant privately assembled collections of historic tapestry from the second half of the 20th century. Bequeathed to the State of Vaud by Mary Toms in 1993, it comprises over one hundred wall tapestries and decorative pieces from major European workshops, dating from the early 16th to the late 19th centuries. After amassing a fortune in real estate, British developer Reginald Toms (1892–1978) and his wife Mary (1901–1993) settled at Château de Coinsins in French-speaking Switzerland in 1958, where they discovered a passion for historic textiles. During the 1960s, they acquired over a hundred works, including furniture, carpets, and embroidery.

More than fifty tapestries in the collection originate from the leading workshops of Flanders, particularly from the 17th to the 18th centuries. The gold- and silver-threaded masterpieces on show are drawn from the original Toms collection and later acquisitions by the Toms Pauli Foundation, established in 2000. Known for its geographical, chronological and thematic breadth, as well as its outstanding state of preservation, this collection, owned by the State, has been exhibited in venues such as Payerne Abbey, the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the MCBA in Lausanne, the Palacio Real in Madrid, the Cité de la Tapisserie in Aubusson and Musée Rath in Geneva. It now takes pride of place at mudac for this landmark exhibition.

While the name Mary Toms is now recognised worldwide thanks to her prestigious collection, the life of the donor herself remains largely private. Trained as a secretary, Mary Alice Winterton married Reginald Toms in 1933. Reginald had achieved considerable success in finance and real estate, allowing the couple to live an international life between Britain, South Africa, Monte Carlo, and Ireland, before finally settling in French-speaking Switzerland in 1958, where they acquired the Château de Coinsins. In the short span of just ten years (1959–1969), Mary and Reginald Toms assembled, through purchases on the London art market, one of the world’s largest private collections of tapestries from the 16th to the 19th centuries, outside royal or aristocratic holdings.

Until Reginald’s death in 1978, the couple kept their collection relatively private. Yet they were fully aware of its exceptional nature and were concerned with ensuring its preservation. In 1990, Mary Toms drew up a will bequeathing to the Canton of Vaud the Château de Coinsins, its furnishings, art collections and the surrounding vineyard. Upon accepting this legacy, the State undertook to preserve and promote the remarkable collection of tapestries that Mary and Reginald Toms had so passionately assembled during the 1960s.

Based in Lausanne since its founding in 2000, the Toms Pauli Foundation is an active institution on both Swiss and international stages. Its core mission is to research, preserve and promote collections of historic and 20th-century textile art owned by the State of Vaud. The Foundation’s heritage consists of a significant collection of European tapestries and embroidery dating from the 16th to the 19th century, bequeathed by Mary Toms in 1993, as well as textile artworks from 1954 to 2011 that are emblematic of the Nouvelle Tapisserie movement.

Lacking its own exhibition space to showcase its exceptional holdings, the Foundation regularly presented its collections abroad. Since 2020, the Toms Pauli Foundation has been based at Plateforme 10. Its offices, collections, and specialised library are housed within the building of the MCBA. The public can discover the Foundation’s historic and contemporary collections through temporary exhibitions held at Plateforme 10—such as the major 2023 exhibition Magdalena Abakanowicz: Textile Territories, organised in collaboration with Tate—and in other venues in Switzerland and beyond. At the end of 2025, another piece from the Titus and Vespasian series will go on display at the MCBA as a follow-up to the Tisser son temps exhibition.

As the successor to the Centre International de la Tapisserie Ancienne et Moderne (CITAM), the organisation behind the Lausanne Tapestry Biennials from 1962 to 1995, the Foundation also maintains artist archives from these historic events and regularly hosts researchers from around the world.