The Name of Fear 7

The 2015 Children's Commission at the Whitechapel Gallery. Brazilian artist Rivane Neuenschwander’s (b. 1967) explores childhood fears, in a display of vibrant handmade capes that combines elements of drawing, textiles, design, performance and writing.

The artist worked with children aged 7 to 9 from across London to gather a collection of fears – ranging from ‘heights’ and ‘bees’, to ‘strangers’ and ‘nightmares’, and the more abstract ‘silence’.

Neuenschwander has translated the children’s drawings and texts into fabric cape designs. Associated with protection and supernatural power, the capes also echo the artists’ interest in folk traditions, children’s literature, nature, psychoanalysis, and in the rich history of modern art in her native country.