Art and Design Commons^™

Kitab Al-Hadaya Wa Al-Tuhaf: A Unique Window On Islamic Textiles, Wendy Landry

Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings

During the first millennium, a rare kind of literature evolved in the Islamic world that provides a fascinating window on the interest and importance of material objects. A unique example of this literature, entitled Kitab al-Hadaya wa al-Tuhaf [Book of Gifts and Rarities] was translated into English, annotated and published in 1996 by Kuwaiti curator and scholar Ghada al Hijjawi al-Qaddumi. It is an anthology of anecdotes referring to the period between the sixth century and the twelfth century, probably compiled in the late twelfth century by an official in the Islamic Egyptian government.

Although the historical veracity of the …

New Insights From The Archives: Historicizing The Political Economy Of Navajo Weaving And Wool Growing, Kathy M'Closkey

Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings

After the formation of the reservation in 1868, the government issued licenses to regulate trade in wool, textiles, and pelts that traders acquired from Navajos. In 1890, blanket sales were 10% of wool sales; by 1930, weavers processed one-third of the clip, their textiles were valued at $1 million, and provided one-third of reservation income. Only Navajos raised hardy coarse-wooled churros whose wool is ideal for hand processing. Recently analyzed archival evidence reveals that blankets were transformed into rugs when tariff removal (1894-97) triggered imports of one billion pounds of duty-free wool, much of it from China. Thus Navajos underwent …

Red Gold - Raising Cochineal In Oaxaca, Eric Chávez Santiago, Hector Manuel Meneses Lozano

Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings

Oaxaca’s diversity may be appreciated in its geography, people, and food. Therefore, artistic expressions throughout the state are truly rich in their variety. Textiles are one of the major expressions that have transcended through time and among the vast offer of materials, cochineal has been one of Oaxaca’s treasures. Capable of producing many different shades, cochineal has been widely used for dyeing since Pre-Columbian times. After reaching a point of extraordinary production as an exporting good, the cochineal cultivation started to decrease as the use of synthetic dyes started to spread. The Museo Textil de Oaxaca (Textile Museum of Oaxaca …

Tracing Cochineal Through The Collection Of The Metropolitan Museum, Elena Phipps, Nobuko Shibayama

Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings

Cochineal, with its origin in the Americas, by the 16th century was exported throughout the world. From the time of the Spanish encounter with the Americas in the late 15th and early 16th century, a dyestuff for a strong, fast, red color was in high demand. While many archival documents and scholarly writing exist on the use and shipment of cochineal throughout the world, and on its impact on the textile industry, this paper traces the pathway of its use through an examination of artworks in the Metropolitan Museum. Scientific analysis aids the study in the identification of cochineal (and …

Development Of A Personal And Non-Pictorial Style In Contemporary Tapestry, Michael F. Rohde

Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings

Some contemporary American tapestry weavers are working in a style that deliberately breaks the link with centuries of European tapestry weaving, which most often aims to be representational or pictorial in content. While a great number of remarkable works by contemporary tapestry artists are produced in this pictorial manner and are well worth consideration and commendation, a strong case can be made for more abstract imagery. The few American tapestry weavers who consciously break from the linkage to European style have developed styles that may be said to be more American, than from other influences. By examining my own work …

Woven Images: All Techniques Considered, Tommye Mcclure Scanlin

Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings

What motivates an artist to create images using textile media? What weaving techniques are suitable for image making? Weavers through the ages have taken colored weft threads in hand and inserted them into the warp, row-by-row, building shape upon shape in the powerful and nuanced, yet structurally simple, technique of weft-faced tapestry. With the invention of the jacquard loom, the kind of complex image making that was previously only common in tapestry weaving became mechanized, and available on a commercial level that involved faster production rates, lower costs and the creation of multiples. In recent years, the innovations in, and …

Chinese Blue And White Itajime (Jiaxie): Folk Tradition Of Carved Board Clamp Resist Dyeing In Zenjiang Province, Tomoko Torimaru, Ana Lisa Hedstrom

Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings

This is a report on our field studies taken to identify and observe in China the process of itajime shibori, or carved board clamp resist dyeing known as Jiaxie in Chinese and Kyokechi in Japanese. There is very little known history of this craft as generally not much attention is paid in China to their folk traditions.

In 2003 and 2004, we visited Yishan, Cangnan, Zhejiang Province at a workshop which is now officially designated as Zhongnuo Minjian Gongyi Jiaxie Zuofang, or roughly ‘Chinese People’s Art Craft Jiaxie Studio’. As this designation suggests, we observed some interest by the local …

Locating Textile Arts Pedagogy: Do We Ever Settle?, Mary Lou Trinkwon

Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings

Contemporary textile arts include a diverse continuum of practices ranging from DIY strategies rooted in grassroots culture often intentionally and intensely anti-intellectual, relational aesthetics based in social or collective practices and hyper technological electronically reliant practices often conceptual in nature. Contemporary educational practices also have a broad range of approaches and ideologies, which manifest in many forms, from applied situated social studio learning to e-learning platforms and distance learning, dependant upon social media and e-resources.

Given this complex range of diverse approaches and practices, how do we locate ourselves as educational practitioners? How do we settle into our educational spaces …

Coast Salish Textiles: From ‘Stilled Fingers’ To Spinning An Identity, Eileen Wheeler

Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings

When aboriginal women of south western British Columbia, Canada undertook to revisit their once prolific and esteemed ancient textile practices, the strand of cultural knowledge and expertise linking this heritage to contemporary life had become extremely tenuous. Through an engagement with cultural memory, painstakingly reclaimed, Coast Salish women began a revival in the 1980s that includes historically resonant weaving and basketry, as well as the more recent adaptive and expedient practice of knitting. This revitalization faces continuing cultural challenges as a new generation is presented with the opportunity to engage its heritage.

Through interviews with principals in this movement plus …

A A Rice Sacks Secrets: Once Hidden From Ourselves And Others, Flo Oy Wong

Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings

In this paper I will discuss the intersections of art and history with a focus on family and community and will examine immigration, resettlement, loyalty, and mental health concepts in a traditional Chinese American perception.

During my 30 year career as an artist, I have used oral history as a foundation to explore the impact of the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Law on my family and community, including later immigrants; I have transformed these little-known chronicles into art that speaks to the universality of adjustment to space and place. The iconic materials that I have used to convey these narratives are …

Figured Velvets From Simple Looms: Velvet Pick-Up And Related Techniques For Handweavers, Wendy Landry

Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings

Much historical velvet was designed to be figural, often in elaborate curvilinear floral motifs, and multiple colours. These complex patterns could be efficiently designed for and executed on the available drawlooms and their successors, the jacquard looms. Faced with such complexity, and the unavailability of jacquard looms and drawlooms, few handweavers have attempted to add velvet technique to their repertoire. However, the basic principles and weave structures of velvet are relatively simple and can be executed on simpler handlooms. Pick-up techniques and simple loom modifications make figured velvet accessible for weavers without access to complex jacquard velvet looms, allowing them …

Binary Fiction: Digital Weaving 2010, Concurrent Exhibitions, Eisentrager-Howard Gallery

Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings

Eisentrager-Howard Gallery
www.unl.edu/art/facilities_eisentrager-howard.shtml
Richards Hall, 1st floor
Stadium Dr. & T St.
(402) 472-5025

Binary Fiction: Digital Weaving 2010
October 4 - 29, 2010

The artists in this exhibition, Laurie Addis, Catharine Ellis, Gail Kenning, Chia-Hui Lu, Christy Matson, Vita Plume, Michael Radyk, Ismini Samanidou, Ruth Scheuing, Pauline Verbeek-Cowart and Bhakti Ziek, use weaving combined with the generative capabilities of the computer to create planar
objects imbued with beauty and meaning. Drawing on various sources of inspiration mediated by digital technology, they transform virtual designs into material form using the matrix of threads on the loom. The binary language of …

Surrounded: Large And Small Work By Lillian Elliott Awardees, Concurrent Exhibitions, Tugboat Gallery

Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings

Tugboat Gallery
www.tugboatgallery.com
(402) 477-6200

Surrounded: Large and Small Work by Lillian Elliott Awardees
October 1 - 29, 2010

Featuring Lillian Elliott Awardees Frances Dorsey (1995), Marcie Miller Gross (1996) and Soonran Youn, (2002)
Lillian Elliott tapestry, “Color it Twill” on exhibit, available for bidding in silent auction.