Museum Studies Commons^™

Making Siapo In Leone Today, Regina A. Meredith Fitiao Mfa

Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings

Siapo is the Samoan word for painted bark cloth. It’s an art form that has been a part of many Pacific island nations for centuries. At one time it flourished in American Samoa, namely the village of Leone, where a group of women worked consistently with it. One of those women is my great aunt, the late Mary J. Pritchard, who taught me the rudiments of making siapo back in the early 1970s, while later it was her daughters who inspired me to become the siapo maker I am today.

“Making Siapo in Leone Today” is an elucidation of my …

Coming Together Again: A Case Study On Persian Silk Woven Textiles, Tayana Fincher

Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings

Spanning well beyond the parameters of the Middle East, Islam has always had a global reach. It has adapted to numerous cultures and ancient histories encountered over the past 1,400 years. But, due to the prevailing Eurocentric purview in American museums, little has been recorded about the artists and makers of Islamic textiles. Many of these objects were produced by collective, royal workshops with unnamed contributors, or were intended for devotional use inside domestic spaces. With colonial ventures, too, many passed through the hands of collectors and dealers solely interested in the object’s material or aesthetic value.

A group of …

Ethnoarchaeology Of The Textile Chaîne Operatoire. Searching For Evidence Of Prehispanic Textile Production In Domestic Sites, Bárbara Cases

Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings

It is proposed that detailed knowledge of the textile production sequence currently carried out by Aymara weavers of the Altiplano of Tarapac  (northern Chile) constitutes an important reference to link material and immaterial aspects and generate indicators with which to address pre-Hispanic textile production in domestic sites, the locations where fabrics would have been produced and used. This research is conceptually framed by the anthropology of technology, which considers material production as a social act. The recording of textile production processes (cha ne op ratoire) was carried out using an ethno-archaeological approach to build a bridge between the present—with known …

Casting A Wide Net: The Value Of Collaboration And Outreach With Source Communities In The Analysis Of Historic Native American Fishing Nets, Annabelle Fichtner Camp, The Lenape Tribe Of Delaware

Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings

The Lenape Tribe of Delaware is one of two recognized tribes within the state of Delaware. Having only gained state recognition in 2016, the group is actively working to regain the lifeways of their ancestors that have been lost in the aftermath of colonization and systemic oppression. This paper discusses collaborative research between the author, a student in Art Conservation, and the Lenape Tribe of Delaware into the once-crucial practice of net-tying. It addresses the impetus for the project and its role in object-based decolonization and Indigenous knowledge reclamation. The research was inspired by the last known Lenape netmaker, Clem …

The Yuraq Haku, Or Plain Mantle: A Long Tradition Of North-Central Perú, María Elena Del Solar, Crestina Jara

Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings

The haku is a shawl indispensable for depicting the lives of women and men in several districts of the department of Hunuco, in north central Peru. It is used daily in rural tasks and domestic life, and it shines during public festivals as a clear representation of local identity. The skill of the spinners in achieving an exceptionally fine yarn makes the serene beauty of these handsome cloths of a single, even color stand out. Almost transparent, the four-selvage cloth is woven on a backstrap loom of native cotton or of sheep’s wool diverse in hue. The mark of the …

A Walk Through Contemporary South Asian Textile “Daatsans”, Rohma Khan

Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings

Dasatangoi is a Persian word for the centuries old, rich tradition of oral storytelling as practiced in the subcontinent. The epics that have passed on from one generation to another tell magical stories of adventure, war, religious anecdotes with immense details such as Arabian Nights, Dastaan-e-Ameer Hamza, and Mahabharata. Inspired by this subcontinental tradition, the presentation focuses on how these rich epics were translated into visual narratives in various indigenous textiles such as in Persian shikar-gahs and the subcontinent’s Chamba rumaals. In addition, it shows how these guided and made skeletal references for contemporary textile artists in Pakistan. Therefore, the …

Textile Memory In Colchane: Weavers Revitalizing The Aymara Tradition, Soledad Hoces De La Guardia

Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings

In Aymara culture, textiles have played a fundamental role as highly valued community possessions and significant media for ritual and tradition. In Chilean territory, the Colchane community has been fortunate, because they have here retained, with fidelity and vigor, their culture and traditional textile practices. However, the average age of active weavers is rising and those younger do not have the technical expertise of their elders, which has led to the loss of a significant part of traditional technical knowledge.

To not forget the “handwork” became an urgent concern for artisans in the community, members of the Aymar Warmi association, …

The Maker’S Mark?: An Examination Of An Embroidered Rebozo And Its Potential Signature, Eleanor A. Laughlin

Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings

Mexican rebozos (scarves/shawls) range in material, design, and function from those worn by indigenous women made of maguey or cotton and used to carry children or heavy loads, to those made of silk that feature fancy dyes or embroidery, which serve as accessories for special events. Among the historic embroidered examples is a subtype called the “landscape” rebozo, which featured scenes of quintessentially Mexican locations or events stitched into the fabric of the scarf. Most rebozos, in the past as in the present, were made by anonymous artisans. However, one example bears a sign that may be a signature and …

Ways Of Life And Works Of Weaving And Dyeing In Okinawa: Toward A Possible Solution Of Carry On Concern, Yuka Matsumoto

Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings

Okinawa, Japan’s southernmost insular prefecture, has a rich variety of weaving and dyeing traditions, but it is in the midst of issues including an aging local population and depopulating rural communities. Thus, one of the most vexing concerns is how to carry on the weaving and dyeing traditions. This study aims to find ways to ameliorate the condition in Okinawa by analyzing how the lives of Okinawa people relate to the traditional weaving and dyeing in the modern era and by understanding the current significance of them to people’s lives.

This study uses nineteen cases from all over Okinawa, and …

Henna Ritual Clothing In Anatolia From Past To Present: An Evaluation On Bindalli, Ozlen Ozgen, Feryal Soylemezoglu, Zeynep Erdoğan, Sevinc Arcak

Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings

The rites of matrimony, which are formed with various rituals and activities, have been accepted as one of the main components of Anatolian traditions from the Ottoman period to the present time. The marriage is celebrated with ceremonies that include a series of entertainment activities. The henna rituals are conducted prior to marriage. In these rituals, first, various folk songs are sung to make brides, who will be away from their parents, cry. Then, fun music is played to entertain the bride, who wears dress in traditional henna clothes called bindalli on henna night. The material, colors, motif, and ornaments …

The Hidden Story Of The Quilted Cover In The Benaki Museum Collection, Sumiyo Okumura

Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings

There is a big, green linen quilt cover, a so-called Mamluk quilt, in the collection of the Benaki Museum (Athens). It looks like a Mamluk cover in terms of colors and designs such as endless knots and flower motifs, but the emblem showing a double-headed eagle in the center of the cover is not the same as other Mamluk blazons. It raises the question of where and when this quilt cover was made. A similar type of linen textile, the so-called trapunto fiorentino, can be seen in a private collection in Florence. It shows similar motifs on the green-colored ground. …

From Birth To Death. The Silk-Flower Industry In Mexico., Adriana Sanromán Peyron

Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings

For centuries silk flowers have been used by different societies as personal and spatial adornments. Flowers, both natural and man-made, have diverse meanings in daily life and rites of passage, accompanying individuals from birth to death. During the nineteenth century, the use of silk flowers gained in popularity and, thanks to the industrialization of textile weaving and the discovery of chemical dyes, silk flowers became available not only to elites but to the growing bourgeoisie, and later, even low-income classes. During this boom, Judith Deschamps and Etiesenne Pucheu met and were married, both of them florists. After the 1851 great …

Project To Recover Prehispanic Textile Techniques In Peru: A Brief Review, From Its Initiation To Today, Yuki Seo

Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings

I have lived in Peru for approximately 20 years, devoted to research and the study of prehispanic textiles. Because of the rich heritage and enormous quantity of tangible textile patrimony that exists in this country, I have chosen Peru to be able to pursue several interests. Over time, I worked in different museums, which motivated me to promote the study, understanding and recovery of prehispanic techniques. I proposed to give them life, so that they would be appreciated in these times. Along the way, I have met admirable self-taught persons who come from my country, Japan. This led me to …

Wool Sells Itself: Tracing The Movement Of Navajo-Raised Wools, Emily Winter

Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings

Every June for the last eight years, a coalition of commercial wool buyers, the Diné College Land Grant Office, and the Black Mesa Water Coalition has hosted a multi-site wool buy in the Navajo Nation of New Mexico/Arizona. Historically, the primary outlets for Navajos to sell their wool were trading posts and border towns, which paid far below market price. Over the last several years, the wool buy has effectively doubled the price per pound paid to Navajo producers by bringing them into direct contact with buyers. In June 2019, an estimated 160,000 pounds of wool were purchased from over …

India In Situ: Textile History And Practice, A Team Approach, Annin Barrett, Carol Bier, Anna Jolly, Louise W. Mackie, Barbara Setsu Pickett

Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings

Five textile specialists from various backgrounds came together to explore shared interests in Indian fabrics, histories, and architectural patterns. Guided by Rahul Jain’s extraordinary scholarship and generosity, we visited weaving workshops producing exquisite fabric and metallic yarn in our quest to understand the naqsha system for drawloom patterning. In Cholapur and Varanasi, we studied drawlooms set up to weave velvet, lampas, and samite, and a distinguished naqshaband demonstrated the making of a naqsha that provides the design for drawloom lifts. We examined rare historic textiles in New Delhi’s National Museum, Ahmedabad’s Calico Museum of Textiles, Varanasi’s Bharat Kala Bhavan Museum, …

Four Artists: My Angels And Mentor, Polly Barton

Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings

Interwoven into my life at the loom are the stories of four women: a weaver, a painter, an embroiderer, and a fiber artist. Their histories have guided and pulled me forward in my own growth as an artist. Yet it is to their art that I feel a heartfelt, visceral, and almost spiritual resonance. I would like to present to the TSA conference in 2020 my research into the lives of Sumiko Deguchi (1883-1952), Helen Frankenthaler (1928- 2011), Adya van Rees-Dutilh (1876- 1959), and Pat Hickman (b.1935).

As an artist who has wound, tied, dyed, and woven silk into contemporary …

The Reckoning That Seized Museums From The Aesthetic : How Novel Iterations Of Anti-Neutrality Activism Condemned Institutionalized White Supremacy While Misconstrued As Cancel Culture, Emily Griffin

MA Theses

Non-profit art museums are arbiters of cultural value and simultaneously supporters of artistic freedom. During 2020, a resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement amplified anti- neutrality activist groups, demanding museums address the embedded violence within their institutional practices. While some physical protests occurred, due to the COVID-19 pandemic digital activism thrived through Instagram campaigns. A portion of research for thesis involved surveying over fifty Instagram accounts dedicated to hold the art world discourse in some regard. Additionally, this thesis’ methodology included remaining conversant on the activity regarding three museums: The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, The Museum of …

Woven By The Grandmothers: The Development Of The National Museum Of The American Indian Throughout The 1990s, Lucy Winokur

Scripps Senior Theses

In 1994, the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) opened the George Gustav Heye Center in New York City, the first of what would be three campuses. Ten years later, in 2004, the NMAI opened its main campus in Washington, D.C., already having cemented their place as leaders in a movement to center indigenous voices within museums housing indigenous material culture. By examining the history of the NMAI from the first acquisition of George Gustav Heye to its earliest approaches to exhibition design and collections management policy in the 1990s, it is possible to track the development of the …

Ua1c11/108 Jonathan Jeffrey Negative Collection, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Negatives taken by Jonathan Jeffrey.

Queer Political Organization In Israel, And Palestine: Shifting Away From Homonationalism, Tristan Blaisdell

Undergraduate Honors Theses

In this project, I present research I have done on the issue of pink washing queer Israeli and Palestinian citizens and homonationalism within Israel and Palestine. I also create an exhibit brief outlining a hypothetical museum exhibit on this topic to be put up at the museum of culture and environment. The first section outlines the history and theory of my exhibit, and a brief personal statement where I talk about my interest in the subject and where I’m coming from before I design this exhibit. My theory is built off concepts of diaspora, home, belonging, queer identity, and intersectionality …