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Symbolic Defiance: Questions Of Nationalism And Tradition In Middle Eastern Textiles, Jeni Allenby

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

While the historical importance and visual beauty of Middle Eastern textiles have long been acknowledged, their contemporary role as a vehicle for political and nationalist expression has rarely been studied.

How has nationalism been transfigured into historical and contemporary Middle Eastern textile traditions? What new forms of textiles have developed from nationalist/political origins and what other cultures influenced their design and media? To whom was their political message addressed (were these textiles produced for local or foreign markets or as a means of symbolic private protest?) and has their creation altered traditional gender and/or social roles? What specific changes and …

Dragon Covers – Mysterious Aberrations Of The Li, Lee J. Chinalai

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

Over a million Li people, representing approximately fifteen percent of the total population, live predominantly in the mountainous areas of Hainan, China. The island is rich in silk, hemp, ramie and cotton. The Li, a tribal people, began spinning, weaving and dyeing in ancient times and developed over the centuries a reputation for the quality and beauty of their textiles. Although the clothing and textiles of the various Li sub-tribes span a range of style and design, all – with one exception – clearly emanate from Li religion, culture and tradition, sharing roots with other Daic-speaking groups.

Several years ago, …

We Pieced Together Cloth, We Pieced Together Culture: Reflections On Tongan Women’S Textile-Making In Oakland, Ping-Ann Addo

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

Tapa, or barkcloth, is central to the cultural identity, social relations, politics, history, and contemporary religion of people from the South Pacific Kingdom of Tonga. Large and ornate textiles made from the beaten inner bark of the paper mulberry tree are designed and made only by women. During 2003–04, the Center for Art and Public Life at the California College of the Arts completed a collaborative project entitled Pieces of Cloth, Pieces of Culture: Tongan Tapa Cloth. Under the direction of Ping-Ann Addo, The Center’s 2003–04 Scholar-in-Residence, Tongan women tapa-cloth artists from Oakland produced a full-sized (15 ft. …

The Evolution Of Yuzen-Dyeing Techniques And Designs After The Meiji Restoration, Yuko Fukatsu-Fukuoka

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

This paper will explore how the introduction of chemical dyes to Japan influenced the technique and designs of yuzen dyeing. Yuzen-zome, a resist-dyeing technique in which freehand designs were created with multiple colors, developed during the mid-Edo period, at the end of the 17th or beginning of the 18th century. The technique allowed for the creation of large pictorial images, unburdened by the repetitive patterns that characterize most textile techniques. It revolutionized kosode decoration.

Traditional yuzen-zome was a true handcraft, extremely labor intensive and, as a result, very expensive. Only the wealthy could afford kosode patterned in this method. …

Interpreting Social Change And Changing Production Through Examinations Of Textiles Of Xam Nuea And Surin, Charles Carroll

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

This paper explores the transformation of the Lao Xam Nuea style sin muk through two different approaches to the examination of change in practice. In the process, the paper reveals ways in which changing handloom production in Southeast Asia are inextricably embedded within broader changing social practices. The first part of this paper presents an historical and structural analysis of revolutionary migration and technological transformation of the Lao Xam Nuea style sin muk. The analysis examines the adaptation of techniques in the adoption of the Xam Nuea style through the comparison of Vientiane and Xam Nuea sin muk. …

Changes In Nomadic Arab Weaving Due To Outside And Internal Influences, Joy May Hilden

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

Centuries of tradition in the weaving of the Bedouin, using sheepswool and goat hair, has changed dramatically in the last fifty years. With the decline of nomadism, due directly and indirectly to the discovery of oil, techniques and products have fallen to disuse or have been transformed with new materials and put to new uses.

Bedouin weaving was formerly used for tents, rugs and animal gear by nomadic Arab tribes in Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Palestine/Israel and Egypt. Lifestyles among and influences on the bedu vary by region, but the decline of nomadism is common to all. …

Copyright Statement

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

appropriation • acculturation • transformation

Proceedings of the 9th Biennial Symposium of the Textile Society of America, Inc.

© 2005 Textile Society of America, Inc.

Copyright of individual papers remains with each author.

All rights reserved. Published 2005. Printed in the United States of America.

No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form, except brief excerpts for the purpose of review, without written permission from the Textile Society of America. Students and researchers wishing to cite the work of specific authors are encouraged to communicate directly with those individuals, as many of these papers represent work in …

Indonesian Fashion Designers-----Transformation From Traditional Textiles, Yuka Matsumoto

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

Indonesian fashion designers who emerged in the 1970s have been creating various designs through uniting traditional and Western designs in accordance with the cultural policy of the country. Designs uniting traditional culture with Western culture symbolize Indonesia’s hybrid cultural background which consists of various ethnic cultures. In the 1980s, with the development of the economy, Indonesian fashion design was presented globally. But since 1997, because of the Asian economic crisis and the collapse of Soeharto’s administration, Indonesian designers have begun to present their designs to domestic consumers who have become aware and appreciative of the rich creative potential of this …

Cultural Authentication And Fashion In The Global Factory: A Panel Of Four Papers, Hazel A. Lutz

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

Erekosima and Eicher (1981) first published a cultural authentication (CA) analysis. Of the Kalabaris’ adoption of Indian madras cloth, they asked four questions. Selection: how was the new cloth selected by society members? Characterization: what is the adopted cloth now called? Incorporation: how has the cloth’s use changed vis-à-vis categories of persons who wear it, occasions of wear, and its meaning? Transformation: how has the cloth been physically transformed?

Lutz (2003) incorporated the four CA questions into her study of the producers and traders of Indian cloth exported to the now transnational Kalabari market. She found …

About Textile Society Of America

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

The Textile Society of America, Inc. provides an international forum for the exchange and dissemination of information about textiles worldwide from artistic, cultural, economic, historic, political, social and technical perspectives.

National Office

TSA Board of Directors 2004-2005

Officers

TSA Publications

Silk In Ancient Nubia: One Road, Many Sources, Nettie K. Adams, William S. Webb

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

Silk in ancient Africa? Most of us think of ancient Africans as members of a tribe, living by subsistence farming or herding, in villages of grass houses. But Nubia, the ancient Kush, located along the Nile in southern Egypt and the northern part of the Sudan, (Fig.l) was inhabited by an African people who, by 1800 BC, had developed their own high civilization. The Kushites were suppliers of ivory, ebony, gold, ostrich feathers, animal skins, and slaves to ancient Egypt and elsewhere in the Mediterranean world. In exchange they received a wide variety of manufactured goods.

By the fourth century …

Ribbons Around The Silk Road---Before Silk (Toward A Pre-History Of Band Weaving), E.J.W. Barber

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

The salty sands of the Tarim Basin, along the route of the later "Silk Road", have produced masses of textiles, splendidly preserved with all their colors, from 2000 BC down to the recent past. In 1995 Irene Good and I had the privilege of being invited to study some of the earliest textiles from this region--those preceding the Chinese entry into the area about 110 BC. I was particularly struck by the prevalence of textile bands, the subject I now wish to explore.

The earliest textiles there come from around Loulan, the dry, salty, and desolate northeast corner of the …

Woven Bands, Medicines And Recipes: Cod. Pal. Germ. 551. The Adventures, Provenance And Contents Of A 15th Century Manuscript Held At The Library Of Heidelberg University In Germany., Ute Bargmann

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

Today, we are going to visit Heidelberg, the city where the earliest German University was founded in 1386. On account of its romantic setting, it became one of the internationally popular institutions in the 19th century. Here, we will visit the University Library, where the manuscript we are to discuss today is housed. It is on the shelf in the Department of Manuscripts, bound in a modest working cover of the 19th century.

History

We shall embark on a journey of more than 500 years into the past and through some very trying times that helped shape present-day Central Europe. …

Historical Buddhist Kesa Robes As Inspiration For Contemporary Fiber Art, Betsy Sterling Benjamin

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

The Japanese kesa or kasaya in Sanskrit, originated in India in 4th century BC as a robe for the devotees of Buddha Sakyamuni. Created in the brick-like pattern of the Asian rice-field, the original kasaya were constructed of discarded fabric that was cleansed, redyed and stitched together with prayers as a devotional act. When Buddhism came to Japan in the 6th century AD the kesa followed, a treasured manifestation of the Buddhist dharma. One of the earliest extant Japanese kesa, composed of seven layers of silk, in nine vibrant colors, bound together with tiny stitches belonged to Emperor Shomu …

Introduction To Chachapoyas Textile Catalogue, Lena Bjerregaard

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

This work contains the thorough analysis of forty-one of the best-preserved textiles from the mummy find at Laguna de los Condores (1997). The textiles are now all in the Leymebamba Museum, either in storage or on exhibition. The textiles were partly found loose in the chullpas, partly as part of a mummy - either as inner or outer wrapping or for instance tucked under the chin of the deceased to keep the head in place.

Conditions:

All the textiles analyzed were in surprisingly good condition - after about 500 years in the rainforest all "normal" organic material would have …

Hither Come The Merchants: Textile Trade At The 19th Century Courts Of Lan Na (North Thailand), Chiang Tung (Eastern Shan States), Lan Xang (Western Laos) And Sipsong Pan Na (Xinshuang Banna, South-West China).

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

“Hither come the merchants’ is the beginning of a quote from the 16th century British explorer Ralph Fitch who listed goods from China traded in Chiang Mai, Lan Na.1 It is not clear whether he actually travelled to the ancient city, or collected his information from another source. It was not until the 19th century that Europeans and Americans became familiar with the inland states of Southeast Asia. What they found was a unique culture that had developed from the 12th century. In the 1890s the inland states came under the control of Siam, China, Britain or France. At the …

Copyright

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

Silk Roads, Other Roads

Proceedings of the 8th Biennial Symposium of the Textile Society of America, Inc.

Copyright remains the property of the individual authors.

All rights reserved. Published 2003. Printed in the United States of America

The papers are unedited and reproduced as submitted. No part of this book may bereproduced in any form or by any means without written permission from the author. Students and researchers wishing to cite specific authors are encouraged to contact those individuals, as many of these papers represent work in progress, or work which has been committed for publication elsewhere. This volume contains …

Textiles As Image, Virginia Davis

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

I am an artist who has a strong interest in color theory and theories of perception and I have the power to weave my own canvas. I want to emphasize the importance for me of the study of textile history, and the privilege of viewing museum collections. Although I began weaving with silk, now I literally weave painter's linen canvas similar to the sort that can be purchased from artists' materials suppliers. Formally, the work explores optical aspects of vision and nuances of value contrast. Ikat and weave structure give special effects. Ikat technique, dyeing and painting the yarn before …

Japanese Kosode Fragments Of The Edo Period (1615–1868): A Recent Acquisition By The Metropolitan Museum Of Art, New York, Joyce Denney

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, recently acquired a remarkable group of over thirty-five Japanese textiles, the majority of which are probably pieces from kosode robes of the Edo period (1615-1868). This paper will serve as a brief introduction to the collection, which will be on view next summer in the Museum’s Japanese galleries.

This introduction to the recent acquisition consists of three parts. The first part discusses a few of the pieces from the recently acquired group that have companions in the Nomura collection of the National Museum of Japanese History (Kokuritsu Rekishi Minzoku Hakubutsukan) in Sakura, Chiba, …

“Dichotomies In Silk: Shrinking And Stretching”, Genevieve Dion

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

Shibori processes can be used to generate highly-textured surface designs for the production of pure silk garments that permanently retain their form and elasticity. Fabric is first shaped using a variety of traditional stitch-resist shibori techniques on greige goods (untreated fabric) of Japanese Gunma silk, a special fabric with highly over-spun silk filaments. Next, fabric is scoured, causing it to shrink – an effect of the high-twist yarns. In unprotected areas, the textile is permanently pleated, whereas the remaining stitch-resisted and protected areas of the fabric become permanently textured. Texture can further be enhanced 0through shibori dyeing.

A major …

A Study Of Fashionable Silk Veiling, Maline, And Tulle From 1904, Joanne Dolan

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

A group of silk net, veiling, tulle, and maline, all sheer draping fabrics produced in unique patterns and colors is the subject of this paper. They form part of a larger collection of materials in a variety of fabrications consisting of raffia, feathers, paper, horsehair, sequins, and chenille. The amassed group is contained in a sample book dated Printemps 1904, and suggests that it may have served as a millinery swatch service book. I intend to focus only on the silk draping materials and examine their fabrication, design, and use in millinery during the first decade of the twentieth …

The Haskell Silk Company: Manufacturers Of Staple Silks Recognized As A "Standard" In The Trade, Jacqueline Field

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

Haskell Silk Company founder, James Haskell, was a native of the Cape Anne, area of Massachusetts. In this locale his early career included service in numerous public and business capacities, not least as agent for The Rockport Steam Cotton Company, and as a State Senator. He was a man experienced in politics, finance and textile production. He moved to Maine in 1858 when he acquired the cotton mill at Saccarappa Falls, Westbrook. Under his management the mill, renamed The Westbrook Manufacturing Company, flourished and expanded.

In 1874, his elder son, Frank Haskell, assumed the role of agent. At the same …

The Women Of Palmyra--Textile Workshops And The Influence Of The Silk Trade In Roman Syria, Cynthia Finlayson

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

By the second century A.D., the oasis empire of Tadmor, Syria (Roman Palmyra) had eclipsed Nabataean Petra to the south in Jordan as the premier trading conduit for the exotic goods of Asia, India, and China as they found their way by caravan and ship to the hungry markets of the West and Rome. Palmyra functioned as the only viable source of water, salt, and pasture for all large trading expeditions as they ventured across the Northern Syrian Desert to the Mediterranean ports of Antioch, Tyre, Sidon, and Aleppo. Sensuous silk was among the most prized of the exotic goods …

The Archaeology Of Early Silk, Irene Good

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

Centuries before the initiation of formal silk trade with Han China ca. 2oo BC, silk appeared as far west as the Baden-Würtemberg region of Germany. The use of wild (Antheraea sp.) silks has also been documented for western Asia and the Mediterranean region since early medieval times, but the extent and antiquity of this fiber technology is presently unclear. The domesticated silkworm Bombyx mori is derived from a species native to northern India, Assam and Bengal, known as Bombyx mandarina Moore. It was in China that this moth was domesticated, and the process of de-gumming developed at some point during …

Competing Images: Silk And Rayon In Popular U.S. Publications Of The Nineteen Thirties, Jocelyn Gottschalk

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

In 1934, Mr. Paolino Gerli, President of the newly formed International Silk Guild, concluded his address at the Twenty-third Annual Convention of the National Retail Dry Goods Association as follows: “A new deal, a new era…Out of a glamorous past, not a Cinderella with a time limit beauty is beckoning to you, but a beautiful Princess, awakened by Prince Charming into a new consciousness of its eternal right to be the Queen of Fabrics.” These lofty words, delivered before an audience of American manufacturers, retailers, and wholesalers, were a call to arms for the beleaguered American silk industry. His words …

Silk Bedcoverings In The Early Chesapeake Region: Interpreting Documentary Evidence, Gloria Seaman Allen

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

Eighteenth-century legal documents from the Chesapeake region occasionally refer to silk bed coverings—blankets, rugs, quilts, and counterpanes—yet very few of these bed coverings have survived in museum and private collections. It is important, therefore, to closely analyze documentary evidence, particularly probate inventories, for clues as to the appearance, construction, commonality, and possible origin of these objects that were used in Chesapeake homes and were readily identifiable by men charged with assigning values to the chattels of a decedent.

Probate inventories, taken shortly after death as part of the process of settling an estate, are rich and tantalizing documents that provide …

Siguas 1: A Newly Identified Early Horizon Culture, Department Of Arequipa, Peru, Joerg Haeberli

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

My interest in the valleys of Arequipa began in 1994. A curious set of textiles labeled Nasca1 was attributed to the “Sihuas2 Valley, Nazca region, Peru, south coast.” The iconography of these textiles was not Nasca but belonged to unidentified traditions. They most likely came from the Sihuas Valley in the department of Arequipa. In 1997 and 2000 I went to Arequipa to establish if their provenance indeed was the Sihuas Valley and other valleys in the department of Arequipa. This was confirmed in the field for the valleys of Sihuas and Vitor at four heavily looted cemeteries. In addition, …

“Dichotomies In Silk: Crisp And Soft”, Ana Lisa Hedstrom

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

Shibori, a compression resist dyeing technique, has increasingly become part of our textile vocabulary and for over 25 years, I have explored these techniques in my own production of fabrics for clothing and interior wall pieces. The opportunity to work with silk greige goods (untreated fabric) and the possibilities with shibori – together, this combination expands the shibori vocabulary with exciting possibilities for the studio artist and designer.

In my application, I use arashi shibori, itajime clamp resist, and nui-shibori stitch resist on the raw yardage. The cloth is simmered in a solution of l0% (of dry weight of …

Appropriated Threads: The Unpicking And Reweaving Imported Textiles, Jessica Hemmings

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

The Silk Route has become synonymous with the movement of knowledge that accompanies the trade of objects. Many of the textiles discussed here were not traded along the Silk Route, but all are representative of the associations that are made with this artery of cultural exchange. The examples cited arrive from a range of cultures and geographies: Indonesia and Nigeria, the Southwest United States and New Zealand. From these vastly different regions, using a variety of materials, weavers painstakingly unpicked yarns from woven fabrics for use in other weavings.

The term ‘raveled yarn’ refers to threads that have been unpicked …

Clothing Styles From A Provincial Inca Outpost, Grace Katterman

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

My recent study of Inca Period clothing has involved textile collections from three south coastal areas of Peru (Figure 1): Pachacamac, a large Inca center and temple complex just south of Lima (Uhle 1903/1991: Ch XXI:89-96); Rodadero, a storage facility overlooking the Inca center of Tambo Viejo in the Acari Valley (Katterman and Riddell (1992:141-167); and Burial House #2, the western hillside cemetery affiliated with the Inca outpost of Quebrada de La Vaca in the Chala Drainage (Katterman 2003b). From the burial house (Figure 6), Dorothy Menzel and Francis Riddell collected and documented 120 burials plus an additional 140 items …