Art and Materials Conservation Commons^™

The Souls Of The Dead: Images Woven In Women’S Clothing Of The Jalq’A Cultural Area (South-Central Bolivia), Veronica Cereceda

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

Both their style of dress and, particularly, the textile designs that distinguish them already at a first look have made three ethnic groups stand out in south-central Bolivia: “Llameros,” “Yamparas,” and “Jalq’as” inhabit neighboring lands in the departments of Potos and Chuquisaca. Ethno-historians and archaeologists define the pre-conquest and early colonial past of these contemporary identities as only two groups: populations belonging to the great ayllus of the high plains, Norpotosinos (Llameros) and Yamparas, with their two political centers: janan (upper) in Jatun Yampara and urin (lower) in Quila Quila.

Today the panorama is more complex: the two Yamparas centers …

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 …

Cassimere: Hiding In Plain Sight, Peggy Hart

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

In the nineteenth century, cassimere was one of the most produced woolen fabrics in American mills. Cassimere appears in nineteenth century texts, as in George Cole’s Complete Dictionary of Dry Goods, first published in 1890. Cole describes cassimere as “the general term applied to that class of allwool cloths used for men’s clothing, woven either plain or twilled, coarse or fine of “woolen” yarn.” Cassimere is much in evidence in census reports of wool manufacture from 1837 to the early 1900s. It appears early in the twentieth century in the Thomas Register of American Manufacturers Buyers guide of 1905-06 under …

Stories Of Welcome Blanket Makers: Towards A Philosophy Of Craft, Alesia Maltz

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

Welcome Blanket was created as a craftivism response to Trump’s call for a border wall. “Imagine if the massive distance of this wall was re-conceptualized and re-contextualized not to divide, but to include. Instead of a wall, a concrete line, to keep people out, what if lines of yarn became 3,500,640 yards of blankets to welcome people in?” The 3,200-blanket goal was quickly achieved and shown in the Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago. Then, with enclosed notes from the makers welcoming newly arrived immigrants, the blankets were distributed to refugees and immigrants in several resettlement communities …

The Lost Narrative Of Natalia Shabelsky’S Collection Of Russian Textiles, Lauren Lovings-Gomez

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

A culturally significant, vibrant group of textiles gathered in the nineteenth century by Natalia Leonidovna Shabelsky, praised by critics and celebrated worldwide, was nearly lost to history. Born in Taganrog, Russia, in 1841, Shabelsky moved after her marriage to a rural estate in the Lebedinsky region where she developed an interest in the indigenous textile practice of ethnic Russia. She collected and preserved examples of embroidery and lace, as towel ends and costume accessories, all filled with traditional motifs such as the Tree of Life, the Sirin, and the Mother Goddess in her various guises. At the end of the …

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 …

Creating The Sensible: Weaving The Colonial Aesthetic At A Colonial Obraje, Maria Smith

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

When the Spanish arrived in the Andes, they encountered a rich textile production industry. The colonists quickly recognized the economic opportunity that skilled Andean weavers provided to colonists and in 1545 the first colonial obraje (textile mill) was established in Peru (Silva Santisteban 1964: 18). Roughly twenty-five years later Antonio de Oré established the Obraje de San Marcos de Chincheros outside the colonial city of Huamanga. There Indigenous and mestizo weavers produced textiles that were transported to Cusco to enter the global textile market. At the Obraje, forced Spanish techniques and technologies mixed with the Indigenous techniques and technologies that …

Ties That Bind The Daily Lives Of Carpet Traders: An Ethnographic Exploration Of The Everyday Lives Of Carpet Traders Through Their Kinship Ties, Moral Economies, And Acts Of Everyday Diplomacy In Iran, The Netherlands, Belgium, And Germany, Felix Van Den Belt

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

On August 6, 2019, international sanctions on Iran were reintroduced. Through my personal quest to understand the carpet trade, written as an ethnographic exploration, this thesis follows the everyday life trajectories of carpet traders in the context of Iran, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany. These life trajectories are made comprehensible based on the themes: Kinship Ties, Moral Economy, and Everyday Diplomacy. In doing this, it contributes to the understanding of global trade networks from the perspective of globalization from below. Few ethnographies are written on the social lives of contemporary carpet traders, but there are many assumptions and opinions on …

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, …

Clothing The Black Body In Slavery, Wanett Clyde

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

After suffering the traumas of capture, enslavement, and the ship’s journey from their homeland, newly arrived Black people, along with struggling to understand and cope with their reduced circumstances, were often pulled in multiple directions with regard to their appearance.

Stripped of garments that represented their native culture and forbidden to practice their personal grooming habits, slaves were now reliant on their owners for care. Once a slave was purchased, it was in the best interest of the master and mistress to protect their investment by providing them with the essentials. Chief among those necessities was clothing.

This presentation will …

The Arts Of Urgency: Textile Practices And Truth-Telling, Catherine Dormor

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

To think of the arts of urgency is to think about tactics for making public realities and ‘truths’. It is to ask how art and artists can express horror, suffering, collective and individual trauma with intelligence, rigour, truthfulness, integrity and ethics? In this paper I explore the role of textile as a set of practices deployed as acts of resistance, focusing on the work of Chinese artist Lin Tianmiao and the US artist collective behind the Pussyhat Project (Jayna Zweimann, Krista Suh and Kat Doyle). Both deploy a tactics of spatiality and collaborative action to produce discourse around female disempowerment …

The Nantucket Looms: Historicism And Modernism In An Island Cottage Industry, Jennifer Nieling

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

Social and political upheavals of the 1960s spurred many reactions in the arts, from optimistic modernism to nostalgic historicism, that resulted in a widespread revival of handcraft. On Nantucket, the 1960s craft revival coincided with a renaissance of the island itself, as it looked towards the past to shape its future. The wharf transformed and historical tourism was promoted, the island a time capsule of its nineteenth-century glory days as a whaling port. In 1961, the Nantucket Historical Trust renovated the Jared Coffin House, a historic whaling merchant’s mansion turned hotel, decorating it with custom reproduction interior textiles. A weaving …

The State Of Traditional Albanian Kilims, Their Motifs And Narratives, Alexis Zoto

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

Albania is a cultural crossroads. Its history is rooted in the ancient Greek and Roman worlds. It has been part of the Republic of Venice and part of the Ottoman Empire. It has maintained its own identity and language in spite of many occupiers. Like many of its neighbors, it also has a rich weaving tradition influenced by hundreds of years under Ottoman rule. However, the knowledge of the old ways of this craft is quickly dying out. There are splits in knowledge and documented information between pre-communist Albania and Communist Albania and post-Communist Albania.

In the mid twentieth century …

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 …