The Textile Museum and the George Washington University today announced an affiliation whereby The Textile Museum will move to the George Washington University’s Foggy Bottom campus to become a cornerstone of a new museum scheduled to open in mid-2014.

Exhibitions and programs will be presented to the public in a custom-built, approximately 35,000 square foot museum building located at G and 21st Streets, bearing the names of both The Textile Museum and the George Washington University Museum. The new museum will include dedicated galleries for The Textile Museum, with increased exhibition space compared to its present facilities. Until the new museum opens, The Textile Museum will continue operating at its current location.
In addition to the new museum, the university today announced that it will construct a 20,000 square foot conservation and resource center on its Virginia Science and Technology Campus in Loudoun County, Va., for the study and care of The Textile Museum and the university’s collections. This center will include storage facilities, a conservation laboratory, and facilities for access to the collection.

The affiliation with the university will allow The Textile Museum to expand its rich tradition of scholarship, education, and fostering cultural understanding as it broadly integrates its activities into the far-reaching GW academic community.

“The collaboration between the world-renowned Textile Museum and the George Washington University will create unparalleled opportunities for students, researchers and scholars as well as for the general public,” said GW President Steven Knapp.

The affiliation with GW comes at a time of stability and success at The Textile Museum. Recent achievements include the never-before-seen collection of Central Asian ikat textiles in the
exhibition and publication: “Colors of the Oasis: Central Asian Ikats.” This exhibition will soon travel to the Seattle Art Museum and Museum of Fine Arts Houston. Other achievements include the engagement of a new, younger audience with the popular PM@ The TM after hours program and an increase in collaborations with the Washington-based diplomatic community to further cultural understanding through textile arts. The Textile Museum has accomplished these impressive initiatives while maintaining a balanced budget through a difficult economic period.

“Perhaps the single-most important development for the museum since it opened its doors in 1925, this relationship ensures The Textile Museum’s exciting future with increased access to its superb collection, enhanced scholarly activities, and continued focus on public programs, education, and exhibitions,” said Bruce P. Baganz, president of the board of trustees of The
Textile Museum. “This affiliation further enhances the museum’s role as the leader in the key challenge of cultivating successive generations of those who appreciate textiles as art. Moreover, collaboration with the GW community strengthens our physical presence, and in conjunction with GW resources, can lead to fulfillment of the aspiration to be a ‘global information switchboard,’ an endeavor that has applications far beyond the museum itself.”

On the crucial importance of continued financial support, Dr. Baganz said, “There are wideranging interest groups who are passionate about The Textile Museum. It is imperative that all
continue to support the museum’s activities so that it can continue its distinguished tradition of art, scholarship, publications and educational programs. This ensures the ability to meet the worthy goal of providing every visitor with a unique, personally relevant and memorable
experience.”

In this unprecedented arrangement between a university museum and an existing art museum, The Textile Museum will continue management of its internationally acclaimed collection of more than 18,000 objects, which will be on perpetual loan to the university. The agreement, pending final approval by both Boards of Trustees, also specifies that Textile Museum staff will continue to develop exhibitions and programs that align with the current mission, which will remain the same after moving to the new location.
“This is a truly unique collaboration,” said Ford W. Bell, President of the American Association of Museums. “By combining resources, these institutions increase their reach and impact while The Textile Museum maintains the reputation and identity it has established over the last eight decades. It is a tribute to the present vigor and future promise of The Textile Museum that two organizations of this international caliber were able to maximize their respective strengths.”

The new George Washington University Museum also will include the recently announced Albert H. Small Washingtoniana Collection and Center for National Capital Area Studies, additional galleries and space for academic and scholarly activity, public lectures and other forums, all of which will be integrated into a wide range of academic studies.

About the George Washington University
In the heart of the nation’s capital with additional programs in Virginia, the George Washington University was created by an act of Congress in 1821. Today, George Washington is the largest institution of higher education in the District of Columbia. The university offers comprehensive programs of undergraduate and graduate liberal arts study, as well as degree programs in medicine, public health, law, engineering, education, business and international affairs. Each year, it enrolls a diverse population of undergraduate, graduate and professional students from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and more than 130 countries.
The new George Washington University Museum will foster the study and appreciation of art, history, and culture, both within the university and throughout the global community, through its affiliation with The Textile Museum and through its university collections, including the Albert H. Small Washingtoniana Collection.

About The Textile Museum
The Textile Museum expands public knowledge and appreciation – locally, nationally, and internationally – of the artistic merit and cultural importance of the world’s textiles. Founded in 1925 by George Hewitt Myers, The Textile Museum is an international center for the exhibition, study, collection and preservation of the textile arts. The Textile Museum collection encompasses more than 18,000 objects that date from 3,000 BCE to the present, including some of the world’s finest examples of rugs and textiles from the Near East, Central Asia, East and Southeast Asia, Africa, and the indigenous cultures of the Americas. Included in the collection are extraordinary holdings of the Islamic world and pre-Columbian textiles. The museum’s 20,000 volume Arthur D. Jenkins Library of Textile Arts is among the world’s foremost resources for the study of textiles.

To download a PDF of the press release, click here.

To access a fact sheet, quotes, video, high resolution photos and more, click here.

For more information, contact Katy Clune, communications and marketing manager, The Textile Museum at (202) 667-0441, ext. 77/kclune@textilemuseum.org or Candace Smith, executive director, media relations, The George Washington University at (202) 994-3566/cesmith@gwu.edu or visit www.gwu.edu/textilemuseum.

A banner created by students participating in the 2010 Museum-School Partnership is displayed at The Textile Museum during the month of June. Photo by Kevin Allen.

The Textile Museum is pleased to announce the participants of the 2011 Museum-School Partnership. The following teachers and their classes were selected from a competitive application process that was open to all District of Columbia Public and Public Charter Schools:

Sarah Burke
Marla McLean
Margaret Ricks
John Burst
School-Within-School at Peabody
Kindergarten

Ellen Saunders
Thomson Elementary School
Grades 3 & 4

Michelle D. Parker
LaSalle-Backus Educational Campus
Grade 6

The Museum-School partnership is a three-month-long collaboration between The Textile Museum and the selected schools as they explore a key theme of recycling and reusing textiles and other materials in conjunction with the exhibit Second Lives: The Age-Old Art of Recycling Textiles. Each of the selected classes will tour Second Lives at the museum and will be visited by a museum docent at their classrooms for a three-date series of engaging and ongoing classroom art activities. In addition, each of the schools will receive art materials to create a banner inspired by the theme of recycling that will be exhibited at The Textile Museum during the month of June. Participating schools will be recognized and their banner presented at The Textile Museum’s annual Celebration of Textiles on June 4, at 12:30 pm.

To receive information about other upcoming programs for schools at The Textile Museum, sign up for the Educators’ E-Newsletter.

To receive general updates about exhibitions and all programs at the museum, sign up for The Textile Museum’s monthly E-Friends Newsletter.

If you have any questions or would like any additional details about this news item or any other news item, please e-mail info@textilemuseum.org.

Kids explore ikat-dyeing in the Textile Learning Center

Enjoy a family-friendly festival featuring Central Asian music and food as well as hands-on art and textile activities on Saturday, February 12, 12-4 p.m. Visitors can:

• Take part in Central Asian dance with the Silk Road Dance Company, including a huge dancing dragon inspired by Uzbek legends
• Add Central Asian flare to their outfit by creating a kalpak—or high-crowned hat—and wearing it throughout the festival
• Weave their own ikat textile on a pre-warped loom, making an original fabric to take home
• Explore the exhibition Colors of the Oasis: Central Asian Ikats with a family guide
• Enjoy tea and refreshments

All activities and demonstrations are free and no reservations are required!

Paul Raphel at The Textile Museum

For those of you who missed the airing last Friday, November 19, click here to see The TM featured on the “Weekend Events with Paul Raphel” morning show segment on Channel 5 Fox News. Paul and the Fox 5 team stopped by the galleries for a tour of Colors of the Oasis: Central Asian Ikats and learned more about the Saturday, November 20 Arts for Famililies program “Weave Your Own Ikat.” Using hand-looms, children could see the ikat-making process for themselves and take home their own swatch of ikat fabric.

Look forward to the next Arts for Families program – “Children’s Tea Party & Storytelling” on December 18, featuring tea, stories and the chance to try on clothes from Turkmenistan.

Robe
Central Asia, Uzbekistan, Bukhara
1870s-1880s
The Textile Museum 2005.36.30
The Megalli Collection

About the Exhibition

Unlike a majority of textiles that are woven with solid-colored thread or are printed or dyed after weaving, ikat is produced using the reverse process.  Individual threads are first dyed with several colors that, when woven together, produce the energetic patterns unique to this textile tradition.  Successful application of this complex technique requires extensive forethought and teamwork between various craftsmen and the designer.  For this reason, ikat has been celebrated in Central Asia as one of the region’s great arts.  In the 19^th century, when costume indicated an individual’s social rank, wealth, domestic role, tribal affiliation and geographic origin, ikat was considered the most prestigious material to wear.  Alarmingly, however, this art form was nearly lost during the Soviet era.

Oscar De La Renta Spring 2005. Photographer Fernanda Calfat. 51299358 (RM) Getty Images.

Fortunately, 19 years after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Uzbekistan’s ikat industry is currently under renewal by artists using the traditional technique.  Ikat continues to gain international recognition with recent trends in fashion and home décor motivated by designers who are inspired by the textile’s bold motifs.

Robe, Central Asia, Uzbekistan, Bukhara, Late 19th to early 20th century, The Textile Museum 2005.36.31, The Megalli Collection

With an appreciation for the textile’s increasing global popularity, Colors of the Oasis will trace the historic development of ikat production and its contemporary revival.  The pieces featured in the exhibition were selected from The Textile Museum’s Megalli collection, a diverse array of 19^th-century ikat robes, pants, dresses, bohce (wrapping cloth), hangings, fragments and cradle covers donated to the institution by collector Murad Megalli in 2005 and 2009.  The exhibition is divided into three sections that guide the visitor through ikat design and artistic principles, the stories of the people who used them and how, and the technical aspect of ikat making and the people involved in this craft.  Innovative off-the-wall installations, including a setting inspired by a 19^th-century Uzbek interior, life-like displays using dress forms and historic photographs, situate the collection within a socio-historic context and encourage the visitor to appreciate the textile’s versatility and significance to Central Asian culture.  Models demonstrating the dyeing process constructed by MICA (Maryland Institute College of Art) students provide insight into how these fabrics are made.  Colors of the Oasis: Central Asian Ikats is curated by Sumru Belger Krody, Curator of Eastern Hemisphere Collections at The Textile Museum.

The accompanying book, Colors of the Oasis: Central Asian Ikats, will be the first significant publication on Central Asian ikats produced in the U.S. in over a decade.  The book, edited by Krody, will introduce the latest research on ikat aesthetics and costume history with a concise narrative of ikat production in Central Asia by contributing authors Feza Çakmut, Mary M. Dusenbury, Kate Fitz Gibbon, Andrew Hale, Sumru Belger Krody, Sayera Makhkamova and Susan Meller.  The book is beautifully illustrated with high quality images and historic prints, including a detailed catalog of the entire 160-piece Megalli Collection.

Related Programs

The Textile Museum plans to inaugurate Colors of the Oasis with a weekend symposium, Tying the Rainbow: Reexamining Central Asian Ikats from Friday, October 15 – Sunday, October 17.  The distinct collection will be unveiled with an evening reception for Textile Museum members on October 15.  A day-long lecture series on October 16 will include presentations on ikat’s production history, socio-cultural importance in Central Asia and the textile’s influence on contemporary global fashion.  Speakers will include Dr. Anne Bissonnette, Associate Professor and Curator of the Clothing and Textiles Collection at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada; Mary M. Dusenbury, Research Curator at the Spencer Museum of Art, Lawrence, Kansas; Andrew Hale, scholar and Colors of the Oasis catalog contributor, Santa Fe, New Mexico; Dr. Jeff Sahadeo, Director of the Institute of European, Russian and Eurasian Studies at Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada; Dr. Elena Tsareva, Head of Textile Research at the Kunstkamera Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia; and Philippa Watkins, Senior Tutor in Constructed Textiles at the Royal College of Art, London, UK.  The symposium will conclude on October 17 with a curator’s tour of the exhibition and a show-and-tell of Central Asian ikats from registrants’ collections.  For more details or to register, visit www.textilemuseum.org/symposium.htm or call (202) 667-0441, ext. 64.

While Colors of the Oasis is on view, The Textile Museum will also host a number of exhibition-related events, including demonstrations, interactive family programs, performances, gallery talks, lectures and the popular after-hours “PM @ The TM” series.  For updates or more information on Textile Museum programs, visit www.textilemuseum.org or call (202) 667-0441.  

About the Curator

Sumru Belger Krody, curator of Eastern Hemisphere Collections at The Textile Museum, is considered the leading authority on Ottoman Turkish and Greek embroidery.  She has been with The Textile Museum for over 15 years and has served as head of the Eastern Hemisphere curatorial department since 2001.  Krody’s previous exhibitions include Flowers of Silk & Gold: Four Centuries of Ottoman Embroidery (2004-5); Floral Perspectives in Carpet Design (2006); Harpies, Mermaids and Tulips: Embroidery of the Greek Islands and Epirus Region (2006); and Ahead of His Time: The Collecting Vision of George Hewitt Myers (2007-8).  Krody has previously authored two exhibition catalogs, Harpies, Mermaids, and Tulips (2006) and Flowers of Silk and Gold: Four Centuries of Ottoman Embroidery (2000).  Krody also serves on the board of the Textile Society of America.

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Program highlights for this year’s Celebration of Textiles festival include:

• Live musical performances by acoustic roots duo Herb & Hanson (Sat., 2-4 p.m. and Sunday, 3-5 p.m.) who have performed at the Kennedy Center and Strathmore Hall, among other Mid-Atlantic venues
• Hands-on activities, including block printing and bracelet making
• Spinning, weaving, knitting, embroidery and indigo dyeing demonstrations
• Delicious Indian food from Fojol Bros. of Merlindia (available for purchase)
• Drawings for gift certificates to Teaism, Restaurant Nora, Kramerbooks and other Dupont Circle area businesses
• Live sheep-shearing demonstrations

Please note: Activities and demonstrations vary on Saturday and Sunday. For full program details, visit www.textilemuseum.org. ALL ACTIVITIES ARE FREE.

Celebrating Local Students’ Art

On Saturday from 12:30-1 p.m. a ceremony will be held recognizing the students participating in this year’s Museum-School Partnership: a 1^st grade class from Lafayette Elementary School; a 3^rd grade class from Horace Mann Elementary School; and a 3^rd-5^th mixed grade level class from Matthew G. Emery Educational Center. Through this annual program, the museum educates Washington, D.C. students about textiles and the cultures that produce them, and works with students in the creation and display of their own textile artwork. Their creations will be unveiled on June 5 and will remain on view at The Textile Museum through the month.

Current Exhibitions

Visitors can explore the colorful and whimsical textile designs of three groundbreaking women in the exhibit Art by the Yard: Women Design Mid-Century Britain, on view May 15-September 12, 2010. Also on view is the complementary exhibit The Art of Living: Textile Furnishings from the Permanent Collection, featuring furnishing fabrics from cultures around the world.

History of Celebration of Textiles

The Celebration of Textiles festival started with the goal of inviting people to come in casually and learn about the techniques and cultures represented in the museum’s exhibitions, drawing in new audiences and offering an opportunity for people of all ages to explore the wonder and variety of textile art. While The Textile Museum now provides a variety of opportunities for children to learn about textiles year-round through school programs and the hands-on Activity Gallery of The Textile Learning Center, the spirit of Celebration of Textiles has remained constant. It aims to build a greater appreciation of the textile arts through intergenerational activities that can be enjoyed by children, parents, grandparents and friends alike.

Celebration of Textiles is funded in part by the D.C. Commission on the Arts & Humanities, an agency supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. The festival is part of the Dupont-Kalorama Museums Consortium’s Museum Walk Weekend. For more information about Walk Weekend, visit www.dkmuseums.com.

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To view the press release (PDF), click here.

WHAT

WHEN: Friday, March 12, 6-8 p.m.

WHERE: The Textile Museum, 2320 S Street NW, Washington DC 20008; Metro: Dupont Circle, Q Street exit

MEDIA CONTACT: Cyndi Bohlin, (202) 667-0441, ext. 78 or cbohlin@textilemuseum.org

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The Textile Museum has also rescheduled the following programs originally planned for this week:

LUNCHTIME GALLERY TALK
Sourcing the West
POSTPONED TO WEDNESDAY, FEB. 17, 12 PM
Led by Rebecca A.T. Stevens, Consulting Curator, Contemporary Textiles. Free; no reservations required.

EVENINGS AT THE TM
Creative Impulses: Japanese Fashion and Textiles
POSTPONED TO FRIDAY, MARCH 26, 6 PM
Presented by Yoshiko Wada. Fee: $20/members; $25/non-members. Advance registration required; space is limited. SOLD OUT. To be added to the waiting list, call (202) 667-0441, ext. 64. Evenings at The TM is sponsored by Eleanor T. Rosenfeld.

MEMBERS’ GALLERY TALK AND TOUR
The Art of Living: Textile Furnishings from the Permanent Collection
POSTPONED TO SUNDAY, FEB. 21, 1 PM
Led by Associate Curator Lee Talbot. Free; reservations required. Call (202) 667-0441, ext. 64. Limited to 35 participants.

PUBLIC GALLERY TALK AND TOUR
The Art of Living: Textile Furnishings from the Permanent Collection
POSTPONED TO SUNDAY, FEB. 21, 2 PM
Led by Associate Curator Lee Talbot. Free; no reservations required. Limited to 35 participants.

MATSURI: A MIDWINTER JAPANESE FESTIVAL FOR FAMILIES
POSTPONED TO SUNDAY, MARCH 7, 1-5 PM
This free festival offers hands-on art activities, demonstrations and performances for all ages. Free; no reservations required. Presented in cooperation with the Japan-America Society of Washington, D.C.