Textile Museum Press Room » Exhibits

“Woven Treasures of Japan’s Tawaraya Workshop” Showcases Japanese Silks and Imperial Costume Traditions

tmpressroom — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 15:13:07 +0000

Japan’s Tawaraya Workshop has produced exquisite silks for more than 500 years for uses which include Imperial garments and Noh theater costumes. A selection of these precious textiles and kimono will be featured in the unprecedented exhibition “Woven Treasures of Japan’s Tawaraya Workshop” opening at The Textile Museum on March 23. This exhibition was organized with the help of Hyoji Kitagawa, the 18^th-generation head of the workshop, who was recently designated a Living National Treasure by the Japanese government.

The Exhibition

“Woven Treasures” includes 37 pieces on loan from the Tawaraya workshop, including lengths of fabric and completed costumes. This is first time these silks will be exhibited in the United States and English-language research and study of these textiles has been scant. Four uchigi (colorful robes worn underneath formal outer garments) will be displayed, in addition to a kosode robe used in Noh theater. The untailored textiles include silks commissioned for the Imperial Household and the Ise Grand Shrine. The historical basis and aesthetics of each design offer greater understanding Japanese court tradition and culture.

Attention to detail has helped the Tawaraya workshop earn its reputation for producing the finest yusoku orimono (silks in patterns, weaves, and color combinations traditionally reserved for the aristocracy). The workshop bases many of its designs on historical precedents, including ancient textiles (jodai-gire) often preserved in Japan’s Buddhist temples. One example on view is a reconstruction of an 8^th-century twill by Hyoji Kitagawa. In a painstaking effort to recreate this centuries-old design, Kitagawa reformulated an acorn dye and mimicked the ancient practice of wetting yarns before weaving.

One of the only workshops eligible to produce cloth for Imperial ceremonial robes, Tawaraya has a long history of commissions for state celebrations. The workshop created the silk for the robes worn by His Majesty the Emperor Akihito and Her Majesty the Empress Michiko of Japan for their 1989 coronation. “Woven Treasures” features the silks used to make these garments, in addition to silks created for the wedding of Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako.

Untailored silk used in the poetic Noh drama of Japan is also included in the exhibition. While Imperial costume tends to make use of subtle juxtapositions of color and design, the fabrics used for Noh theater enhance the performance with bright hues and large patterns.

The Tawaraya Workshop

The Nishijin neighborhood in Kyoto, Japan ranked alongside Lyon, France and Milan, Italy as one of the world’s greatest centers of luxury silk production for centuries. The Tawaraya workshop, led by Hyoji Kitagawa, was founded more than 500 years ago. Kitawaga learned his craft from his father, Heiro Kitagawa, and both men were designated Living National Treasures by the Japanese government for carrying forward a rich cultural tradition. As head of the workshop, Kitagawa upholds techniques and aesthetic standards passed down many centuries.

“Woven Treasures” opens as the future of the Tawaraya workshop is uncertain; the demand for fine silks has waned in recent years and Kitagawa has not pressured his sons to undertake this challenging career. This exhibition, along with its accompanying exhibition text and complimentary gallery guide, is a rare opportunity to understand a national artistic heritage from the perspective of its maker.

Exhibition Organization and Support
“Woven Treasures of Japan’s Tawaraya Workshop” is part of the National Cherry Blossom Festival, a city-wide event celebrating the 100^th anniversary of the gift of trees from Japan. “Woven Treasures of Japan’s Tawaraya Workshop” is supported by grants from S&R Foundation, E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, The Japan Foundation, and Asian Cultural Council.

“Woven Treasures” was curated by Lee Talbot, curator of Eastern Hemisphere Collections, The Textile Museum with the guidance of Hyoji Kitagawa, head of the Tawaraya Workshop.

Download a PDF version of the full-length press release.

High-resolution images are available for download. Request a link to the online gallery.

For more information, contact Katy Clune, Communications and Marketing Manager, kclune@textilemuseum.org, (202) 667-0441, ext. 77.

Images: Uchigi (ceremonial court robe), 21st century. Courtesy of Hyoji Kitagawa. 18^th-generation head of the Tawaraya workshop, Living National Treasure Hyoji Kitagawa.

Filed under: Exhibits, Free, Press Releases

Museum as Muse: The Textile Museum Collection Inspires New Works From Contemporary Artists in “Souring the Museum”

tmpressroom — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 15:05:23 +0000

The Textile Museum is home to an extraordinary collection of historic textiles. For the exhibition “Sourcing the Museum” these pieces provided inspiration for eleven fiber artists to create new works of art, which will be on view at The Textile Museum from March 23 through August 19, 2012.

Invited to participate by world-renowned weaver and scholar Jack Lenor Larsen, the chosen artists are diverse in background, preferred technique, and aesthetic, but all at the height of their careers. Larsen said of the exhibition, “Witness here the museum as springboard for new responses to earlier, sometimes ancient works. The resulting contemporary textiles are diverse in scale and weight, media and power, and much varied, too, in distance from the mentor work…and, indeed, from the artists’ usual mode of expression.”

Larsen encouraged the participants to move beyond their preferred materials and techniques. The result is an incredible diversity of new textile arts—from a dense photographic tapestry, to a diaphanous silk hanging, to a political straitjacket. These and all of the new works will be displayed alongside the historic pieces that inspired them, underscoring the connection between past and the present.

About the Exhibition

The word “museum” derives from the ancient Greek mouseion—”temple of the Muses”—home of goddesses believed to inspire creativity. “Sourcing the Museum” casts The Textile Museum as muse, as Jack Lenor Larsen sought out contemporary textile artists to more deeply explore the connections between past objects and contemporary inspiration.

Jack Lenor Larsen is internationally known as a textile designer, author, and collector. He is respected as a leader in the field of textile arts, and as an advocate for traditional and contemporary crafts. He began designing textiles in the 1950’s, and his innovations in color and texture have become exemplary of modernist design.

For “Sourcing the Museum,” Larsen assembled artists who would approach the task with superior technical mastery and aesthetic abilities, including Olga de Amaral (Bogota, Colombia), James Bassler (Palm Springs, CA), Polly Barton (Santa Fe, NM), Archie Brennan (New Baltimore, NY), Lia Cook (Berkeley, CA), Helena Hernmarck (Ridgefield, CT), Ayako Nikamoto (Chigasaki, Japan), Jon Eric Riis (Atlanta, GA), Warren Seelig (Rockland, ME), Kay Sekimachi (Berkeley, CA), and Ethel Stein (Croton-on-Hudson, NY).

The 11 invited artists were asked to take a deeper look at pieces from The Textile Museum’s collection of more than 19,000 historical textiles, including examples from East Asia, the Islamic world, Africa, Europe, and the Southern Hemisphere, and spanning over 5,000 years, dating from 3,000 B.C.E. to the present.

Each artist had their own method for selecting a piece from the collection for the project. Some confined themselves to a particular origin,or a specific technique. Jon Eric Riis remembered a work seen on display at the museum decades earlier. Archie Brennan decided to leave the choice to fate, picking his pieces by selecting at random three item numbers from the museum’s database. Once the piece was selected, the artists returned to their studios and created new pieces in response to their chosen “muse.”

On View

Each of the artists diverged from their museum “muse” to different degrees, and in several cases broke away from their usual methods of creation.

Polly Barton, a Santa-Fe-based weaver working primarily in silk, chose a dense, 15^th-century Egyptian rug as her start. The result was three shimmering gossamer panels, reminiscent of the works of Helen Frankenthaler, for whom Barton was once a studio assistant. She keeps the richness of color and lustrous shades of the original carpet but creates an air-and-light catching piece made of sheer and lustrous silk organzine (a material with which she had not previously worked), spanning over seven feet.

Ethel Stein, who will turn 95 this year, took on two different pieces as inspiration, both examples resist-dyed textiles. Her resulting Modernist hanging brings together a similar boldness of color and pattern, while also embracing a more abstract approach to shape.

Weaver Jim Bassler is perhaps the artist most familiar with the kind of challenge presented with “Sourcing the Museum”—he often uses ethnic textiles as a starting point for his work. In this case, a shirt from Myanmar inspired a piece called “My ‘Letterman’ Yantra,” referencing the talismanic inscriptions on the original shirt, meant to offer protection to the wearer. Bassler’s yantra is emblazoned with encouraging slogans “Go Man!”, “Run win!” and “Run won!” meant to push the weaver forward in athletic pursuit.

Lia Cook, whose recent tapestry work has focused on creating photo-realistic images, chose two small, fragmentary pieces from the 6^th- 7^th centuries. “I was fascinated that even though they were made centuries ago they could be very contemporary, with subtle nuances of recognizable human expressions,” she wrote. Her resulting tapestry takes the figures onto a monumental scale, and incorporates her technique of keeping the structure of the weave visible, so that from a distance the image can read almost photographically, but upon closer inspection is made of many individual threads, like the strokes of an Impressionist painting.

Jon Eric Riis is an artist of great reputation, and was named a USA Fellow in 2011, a grant awarded to only 50 outstanding performing, visual, media, and literary artists. His “muse” was a textile he had seen in the museum in the 1970s – a richly embellished Chimu jacket. He took the decorative elements and turned it into something appropriate to the location of Washington DC in an election season–entitled “Congressional Straitjacket.” Riis’ artist statement best describes the piece, woven in meticulous detail: “This [is] a political statement dealing with two large figures, both bound by straitjackets, depicting a figure with an elephant face and the other with a donkey face…”

With a broad range of starting points, it is unsurprising that the results are equally varied: in size, in scope, in technique, and in viewpoint. But all are the finest examples of their craft, and a testament to both the vitality of contemporary textile art and the dynamic relationship between past and present.

Download a PDF version of the full-length press release.

High-resolution images are available for download. Request a link to the online gallery.

For more information, contact Katy Clune, Communications and Marketing Manager, kclune@textilemuseum.org, (202) 667-0441, ext. 77.

Filed under: Exhibits, Free, Press Releases

Upcoming Exhibition Celebrates 2012 as Year of the Dragon

tmpressroom — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 17:02:21 +0000

In the spirit of the East Asian calendar’s Year of the Dragon, just days after the Chinese New Year, The Textile Museum is opening a playful and colorful exhibition titled “Dragons, Nagas, and Creatures of the Deep” (February 3, 2012 – January 6, 2013). The exhibition presents 16 objects drawn from cultures as diverse as the ancient Mediterranean world, imperial China and contemporary South America, portraying dragons as everything from medieval fire-breathing beasts to friendly and beneficent water gods.

A Global Beast

While dragons are born from fantasy, their depiction is often surprisingly similar across time and place. “Dragons, Nagas, and Creatures of the Deep” reveals these shared stylistic roots.

The English word “dragon” derives from the Greek drákōn, meaning “water snake” or “large serpent.” A 5th-century tunic panel from Egypt depicts a Nereid (sea goddess) riding a mythical horse-fish beast. Water dragons were also common throughout Southeast Asia. In the folklore and decorative arts of India and Southeast Asia, deities taking the form of fantastical snakes, or nagas, abound. Nagas controlled rain—the life-force of rice-growing peoples throughout the region—and were also considered connections to the spirit world. Included in the exhibition are two textiles decorated with nagas from the Lao-Tai people of Laos, precious pieces once used in ritual and shamanistic ceremonies.

Greco-Roman stylizations influenced medieval artists in Western Europe, who began associating dragons with fire. Many Western cultures portrayed dragons as terrifying, fire-breathing beasts to be feared by the common people and destroyed by sword-wielding protectors. Stories of heroes fighting serpentine beasts also play out in ancient Near Eastern cultures, depicted in the exhibition on luxurious velvet from the Safavid dynasty (1501-1722) of present-day Iran.

This exhibition demonstrates contemporary translations of dragon imagery as well: a mola panel from Panama, made by a Kuna woman in the 1960s, playfully interprets a dragon above the colorful letters “D-R-A-G-O-N”. The source for this image is likely a children’s alphabet book.

The Dragon as a Symbol of Power

Whether creatures of good or evil, dragons in every culture were unquestionably powerful, and became a symbol for both prestige and protection.

In China, certain styles of dragons were reserved for use by the emperor and ruling class, and the way they were illustrated was determined by social rules outlined in dynastic laws. For example, use of front-facing dragons was prohibited for anyone below the noble classes. Only the imperial family was permitted to wear dragons with 5 claws. A stunningly woven 18th century coat made during the Qing dynasty includes several dragons with one claw painstakingly removed from each foot—indicating its second owner altered the garment to suit their social standing.

When the Buddhist faith spread to East Asia in the first centuries CE, people in this region began to regard dragons as protectors of Buddha and Buddhist law. A rug which covered a column in a Buddhist temple in Tibet, Mongolia, or western China illustrates an auspicious dragon surrounded by the symbols of Buddhist law. While red flames emanate from its body, this dragon protects from evil and harm.

The Year of the Dragon is said to be a year of energy and change. The image of the dragon has been shifted and reshaped in cultures throughout time and across the world, but they fascinate and delight us in all of their forms.

Download a PDF version of the full-length press release.

High-resolution images are available for download. Request a link to the online gallery.

For more information, contact Katy Clune, Communications and Marketing Manager, kclune@textilemuseum.org, (202) 667-0441, ext. 77.

Details of dragon faces from a dragon robe (China, late 18^th/early 19^th century, TM 1973.30.1, Gift of Brigadier General Regan Fuller), a mola panel (Panama, 1960s, TM 1985.56.56, Donated from the Collection of Jonathan Leonard) and a hip wrapper (Indonesia, 1920s, TM 1985.57.34, Gift of Alice Bradley Sheldon; collected by Mary Hastings Bradley).

Filed under: Exhibits, Free, Press Releases

Discover the Pattern, Rhythm and Texture of African Textiles

tmpressroom — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 17:03:42 +0000

This photo of the nyimi, Bakuba king a shows the most lavish example of the culture’s dress. Photo by A. Cauvin, the Pierre Loos collection. Reproduced in Weaving Abstraction (The Textile Museum, 2011).

Ingeniously woven from palm fiber, Central African textiles distinguished the wealthy and powerful. Skirts, reaching over 15 feet in width, were layered on top of one another and worn with decorated belts and hats. Woven art from the Kuba kingdom makes playful use of a language of over 200 patterns and its signature aesthetic brings to mind the rhythms of improvisational jazz. The Textile Museum in Washington, D.C., will open a groundbreaking new exhibition this fall titled Weaving Abstraction: Kuba Textiles and the Woven Art of Central Africa (October 15, 2011 through February 12, 2012) showcasing some of the best examples of this complex tradition.

Weaving Abstraction places Kuba textiles within the larger context of Central African culture by including fiber art and baskets from the Kongo, Tutsi and other peoples. It is the most comprehensive exploration of this beautiful and impressive art form to date in the United States. The exhibition includes approximately 150 objects ranging from small, exquisite baskets to skirts reaching over 15 feet in width. Weaving Abstraction presents new research and is accompanied by a full-color, 218-page catalog by guest curator Vanessa Drake Moraga. To compliment this exhibition, The Textile Museum will present its fall symposium on the topic “Central African Textiles: Art and Cultural Narrative” (October 14-16, 2011).

About the Kuba Kingdom
The Kuba Kingdom emerged in the early 17th century and grew to approximately 20 culturally related ethnic groups across a region in what is known today as the Democratic Republic of Congo. Referred to as the“people of the lightening, people of the cloth, people of the king,” Kuba culture is defined by the richness of its costume and the importance placed on art and embellishment. Thanks to their control of the ivory trade in the region, Kuba society was relatively wealthy and leisure time was dedicated to artistic pursuits. Unlike surrounding cultures, the Kuba kingdom was closed to foreigners until the 1890s, which protected its artistic traditions from outside influence.

Masters of the Textile Arts
The textiles on view in “Weaving Abstraction” are not made of wool or silk, but instead are constructured almost entirely of raffia, a fiber made from the leaves of a palm tree that grows throughout Central Africa. It is short, coarse and difficult to work with—but it was used with skill to make skirts, headwear, nets, mats, baskets and even the walls and roofs of homes. Raffia was spiritually important for the Kuba, and textiles defined status, ceremonies, funerals and other important occasions.

Kuba textiles are renowned for their creative use of pattern and expert technique. Kuba designs are not only decorative, but use a system of “sacred geometry”— symbols only fully understood by members of the culture. African societies often relied on oral traditions and iconography to communicate their worldview—making geometric designs an important way to convey moral, spiritual and philosophical beliefs. The Shoowa, a subset of the Kuba people, were especially skilled at a textile technique which created a plush, or velvet-like, texture. Weavers played with the striking contrast between gold raffia and dark natural dyes, and combined a smooth weave with this three-dimensional texture.

Surrealist and Modernist artists of the early twentieth century were greatly influenced by African art, and this included textiles. When introduced to the western world in the early nineteenth century, the Kuba aesthetic was coveted by collectors and influenced artists, including Henri Mattisse, Sonia Delauney, Paul Klee and artists of the Harlem Renaissance.

Man’s Status Cloth, D.R. Congo, Shoowa people, Early 20th century. Collection of Matthew Polk and Amy Gould. Photo by Renée Comet.

On View
Weaving Abstraction includes approximately 25 skirts and overskirts, 60 baskets and 27 “status cloths,” in addition to several hats, belts and other accessories. Wrap skirts worn by Kuba women and men were often layered below exquisite overskirts with intricate borders. These skirts (some of which measure over 15’ long) will be displayed flat, showcasing their abstract designs. When displayed in this manner, the objects resemble paintings, ones filled with the bold patterns and striking juxtapositions that attracted Modernist artists.

These skirts are displayed alongside prestige panels, sometimes referred to as “velvets,” which were collected by Kuba men and indicated wealth and status. Excellent examples of the fine baskets made by the peoples of the Great Lakes region of Central Africa are also on view. Large baskets with peaked lids were used for grain storage, and smaller versions were used to safeguard precious goods or were displayed to communicate status.

Download a PDF version of the full-length press release.

High-resolution images are available for download. Request a link to the online gallery.

For more information, contact Katy Clune, Communications and Marketing Manager, kclune@textilemuseum.org, (202) 667-0441, ext. 77.

Filed under: Exhibits, Press Releases

What Does “Green” Mean to Artists, Past and Present?

tmpressroom — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 16:23:13 +0000

Green: the Color and the Cause exhibition opens at The Textile Museum on April 16

Maggy Rozycki Hiltner, Hothouse Flowers (detail), 2005. Cotton and found textiles; embroidered. Lent by the artist. Photo by Virginia Spragg.

The Textile Museum asked artists to respond to “green,” and this spring, their collective answers are on view. Today, the word “green” is as likely to refer to eco-consciousness as the color itself. Often incorporating recycled and sustainable materials, artists from around the world respond to these dual meanings of “green” in Green: the Color and the Cause, on view at The Textile Museum April 16 -September 11, 2011.

The exhibition will showcase the art of contemporary makers, including site-specific installations and a growing garden sculpture, alongside historical precedents from the museum’s collection. The objects on view may be united in concept, but the approaches and materials each artist, past and present, used vary greatly—visitors to the exhibition will see recycled tire strips and clothing, peacock feathers, paper and natural fibers in weavings, sculptures, clothing, installations and more.

On April 16, The Textile Museum will launch a paperless interactive web catalog at www.textilemuseum.org/green where visitors can learn more about the art on view in Green and participate in the ongoing “green” conversation, including posting their own green artwork in a continuous Flickr™ photo gallery. Visitors to The Textile Museum will have a chance to engage directly with the exhibiting artists during the “In Their Own Words: Artist Lecture Series” or at a hands-on summer arts workshop. For a full listing of related programs, please visit www.textilemuseum.org.

About the Exhibition

Shigeo Kubota, Shape of Green II, 2009. Nylon, stainless steel, sisal; assembled. Lent by the artist. Photo by Kouichi Nisimura.

Green: the Color and the Cause will feature original contemporary works by 32 international fiber artists, ranging from stitched canvas to sculpture. These works are presented in conjunction with 13 historical pieces from The Textile Museum’s permanent collection that explore how cultures across the world have captured and interpreted the color green through textile art. Although it is the most common color in nature, green is notoriously hard to reproduce with natural dyes.

“We are excited to inspire reflection on the environmental concerns facing us today through the artwork in Green,” says Textile Museum Director Maryclaire Ramsey. “This exhibition provides a forum for contemporary fiber artists to contribute to this global conversation, and for the public of Washington, D.C. add their own voices.”

To assemble the group of artists represented, The Textile Museum issued a call for entry to contemporary fiber artists across the country and around the globe. Exhibition co-curators Rebecca A.T. Stevens and Lee Talbot reviewed more than 1,000 works of art submitted by nearly 300 artists. From this group, the co-curators selected 32 contemporary artists—representing 18 U.S. states and 6 countries—to participate in the exhibition.

Green is the third in a series of exhibitions exploring the cultural and artistic significance of specific colors in textile art; it follows Red (2007) and Blue (2008). Because textiles reveal so much about a given culture’s tastes, technological advancements and rituals, The Textile Museum is in a unique position to help shed light on the symbolism of color.

For more information, please contact Katy Clune at (202) 667-0441, ext. 77, or by e-mail at kclune@textilemuseum.org.

Download the press release in PDF form.
View a page of interesting facts and trivia about Green.
View a list of upcoming workshops, lectures, and family programs related to Green.

Request a link to a gallery of high-resolution exhibition images available for download.

Filed under: Exhibits, Press Releases Tagged: #TMUpdate, contemporary, exhibition, green, installation, press release, textile museum, washington dc

Artists Reuse, Respond to the Environment in Two New TM Exhibitions

tmpressroom — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 22:07:05 +0000

The Textile Museum launches a year-long exploration of the ties between textiles and environmentalism with the opening of two new exhibitions in 2011. Second Lives: The Age-Old Art of Recycling Textiles (February 4,

Ceremonial mantles, or cloaks, were sometimes cut into pieces and distributed as gifts by the Tlingit, Tsimshian, and Haida tribes of the Northwest Coast—resulting in creative re-imaginations of the prized cloth such as this vest.

2011 – January 8, 2012) presents ingenious examples of repurposed textiles from around the world. These historic examples complement the major spring exhibition, Green: the Color and the Cause (April 16 -September 11, 2011). Today the word “green” is as likely to refer to eco-consciousness as the color itself. Playing with green’s symbolism and often incorporating recycled materials, artists from around the world are responding to the environment. Green will showcase the art of these contemporary makers, presenting their work alongside historical precedents from the museum’s collection.

SECOND LIVES: THE AGE-OLD ART OF RECYCLING TEXTILES
February 4, 2011 – January 8, 2012

Long before vintage fashion boutiques were in vogue, artisans found ways to repurpose precious handmade textiles. Throughout history and across cultures, textiles were so valuable that worn and threadbare fabrics were seldom simply discarded.

Second Lives features 18 objects from The Textile Museum’s permanent collection that illustrate the different forms repurposing textiles has taken around the world. Objects on view date from the 16th through the 20th centuries and include patchwork hangings from Uzbekistan, India and Iran, textiles woven with recycled fiber from Japan and the American Southwest, and garments constructed from discarded religious textiles from the Pacific Northwest coast and Turkey. Each object embodies layers of meaning and social significance.

Luxurious garments communicate wealth and status, and when they can no longer be worn, cultures have found ways to reuse them. A panel from a Qing dynasty (1644-1912) Chinese dragon robe, a prestigious garment requiring two to three years of labor to complete, is included in this exhibition as a wall hanging.

While some textiles are valued for the labor involved, others are valued for the stories they tell. Two finely woven velvet panels from 16^th-century Persia found their way to Ottoman Turkey, where Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent (1494-1566) used them to embellish his tent. Taken from Turkey to Poland in the 17^th century, they were incorporated into a noble family’s sled blanket, used until the 1920s.

Second Lives: the Age-Old Art of Recycling Textiles is organized by Lee Talbot, Associate Curator, Eastern Hemisphere Collections.

TO REQUEST IMAGES, CLICK HERE.

GREEN: THE COLOR AND THE CAUSE
April 16 – September 11, 2011

Green: the Color and the Cause will feature original contemporary works by 32 international fiber artists, ranging from stitched canvas to sculpture. These works are presented in conjunction with 13 historical pieces from The Textile Museum’s permanent collection that explore how cultures across the world have captured and interpreted the color green through textile art.

Green is the third in a series of Textile Museum exhibitions exploring the cultural and artistic significance of specific colors in textile art; it follows Red and Blue. The exhibition also provides a forum for contemporary fiber artists to contribute to the global conversation about the environment. “We are excited to inspire reflection on environmental concerns facing us today through the artwork in Green” says Textile Museum Director Maryclaire Ramsey. “This is such an important conversation, one uniting people all over the world. And it can be informed by looking at the cross-cultural significance of the color green historically.”

To assemble the group of artists represented in Green, The Textile Museum issued a call for entry to contemporary fiber artists across the country and around the globe. Exhibition co-curators Rebecca A.T. Stevens and Lee Talbot reviewed more than 1,000 works of art submitted by nearly 300 artists. From this group, the co-curators selected 32 contemporary artists—representing 18 U.S. states and 6 countries—to participate in the exhibition.

The artwork in Green: the Color and the Cause will address multiple themes, including:

Connections between Man and Nature
Water: its importance to the natural, and manmade, world
Life Cycle: nature as symbols of life cycle stages—birth, growth and decay
Recycling: creating new art forms from recycled materials
Green as a Color: the human perception of and associations with this color

For the first time in its 85-year history, The Textile Museum will present two site-specific installations as part of this exhibition: a handmade paper sculpture of the ecosystem of coastal New Jersey that emulates the ebb and flow of an important estuary (Estuary: Moods and Modes, 2007, Nancy Cohen), and a lace-covered arbor embedded with grass seed, installed in the museum’s garden, that will sprout, mature and die during the period the exhibition is on view (Arbor Lace, 2002, Michele Brody).

Shape of Green II, 2009 Shigeo Kubota Nylon; assembled

Although united in theme and color, the objects on view in the exhibition are diverse in structure and size. For her Hothouse Flowers, artist Maggie Hiltner used castoff household textiles and embroidered figures on a bright green background to critique the distancing of mankind from nature. A Woman of Substance by Jackie Abrams comments on consumerism and today’s “throw away” culture with a basket coiled from discarded silk blouses. The basket’s core elements are held in place by a single thread, which for the artist symbolizes the threads of life that hold us together and give us a common framework. Gyöngy Laky’s ALTERATIONS, which was featured on the cover of the New York Times magazine in spring 2008, incorporates tree pruning to literally spell out “The Green Issue.” Laky could be speaking for many of the artists in Green when she says, “I am interested in making a small dent in changing [i.e., altering] attitudes about the environment and our relationship to it.”

Green: the Color and the Cause is co-curated by Lee Talbot, Associate Curator, Eastern Hemisphere Collections, and Rebecca A.T. Stevens, Consulting Curator, Contemporary Textiles. The exhibition will be on view at The Textile Museum April 16 through September 11, 2011.

TO REQUEST IMAGES, CLICK HERE.

TO DOWNLOAD A PRESS RELEASE (PDF), CLICK HERE.

Filed under: Exhibits, Press Releases, Public Programs, Uncategorized

Striking 19th-Century Ikat Fabrics Unveiled in Upcoming Textile Museum Exhibition

tmpressroom — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 19:38:48 +0000

The luscious colors and bold patterns of ikat, a textile woven from pre-dyed thread, have earned these fabrics international recognition as the latest trend in fashion and interior design. Visitors to Colors of the Oasis: Central Asian Ikats, opening at The Textile Museum on October 16, 2010, will discover why the craft of ikat has been considered a cultural treasure in Uzbekistan for over two centuries. The exhibition will showcase a selection of 19^th-century ikat garments and textiles from the Museum’s Megalli Collection in engaging, off-the-wall installations that situate ikat production, use and aesthetic significance to Central Asian culture within a socio-historic context. The exhibition also heralds the recent revival of this art form in Uzbekistan after near extinction during the Soviet era, coinciding with the global popularity of this aesthetic through popular design houses such as Oscar de la Renta, J. Crew, and Pottery Barn. The more than 60 garments and other textiles in the exhibition have never been exhibited before. The exhibition will be accompanied by a full-color comprehensive book, published by The Textile Museum, which will present new scholarship and illustrate the collection in its entirety.

: 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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Filed under: Education, Exhibits, Press Releases, Public Programs

The Textile Museum to Kick Off Summer with Annual Two-Day Festival

tmpressroom — Wed, 12 May 2010 16:30:45 +0000

The Textile Museum will hold its 32nd annual Celebration of Textiles on Saturday, June 5, 10 a.m.–4 p.m. and Sunday, June 6, 1-5 p.m. This free festival for all ages, held rain or shine, invites visitors to explore the textile arts and cultures of the world through hands-on activities and artist demonstrations in the museum’s gardens, historic buildings and current exhibitions.

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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World Premiere of Documentary Film on Mid-Century Design coincides with Art by the Yard Opening

tmpressroom — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 19:44:01 +0000

Chevron (detail), 1968. Lucienne Day. Manufactured by Heal Fabrics. Jill A. Wiltse and H. Kirk Brown III Collection of British Textiles.

The first public screening of Contemporary Days: Robin and Lucienne Day Design the UK, produced by Design Onscreen— The Initiative for Architecture and Design on Film, will coincide with the opening of the exhibition Art by the Yard: Women Design Mid-Century Britain at The Textile Museum. The 90-minute film premieres at 7:30 p.m. on May 15, 2010 at the National Geographic Museum’s Grosvenor Auditorium (1145 17th Street NW, Washington, D.C.). A question and answer session with award-winning Scottish Director Murray Grigor and Cinematographer Hamid Shams will follow the screening. General public tickets are $15, including free garage parking, and may only be purchased online and in advance through Design Onscreen (www.designonscreen.org).

Robin and Lucienne Day. Courtesy of Design Onscreen.

About the Film

Robin and Lucienne Day transformed British design after World War II with striking furniture and textiles that signaled a new modernist sensibility for everyday living. Lucienne’s abstract textile designs brought accessible elegance into the homes of postwar British consumers. Robin’s revolutionary furniture designs introduced materials such as plastic, steel and plywood to homes, offices and schools. Together, their fresh design approach helped fuel the artistic and commercial awakening that led Britain out of the devastation of World War II. The film traces the Days’ personal and professional progression over the course of their careers, spanning more than 70 years–from their days at the Royal College of the Arts in the 1930s, through their long heyday at the forefront of British design, to their recent rediscovery by new generations of design aficionados.

About the Filmmakers

Director Murray Grigor is a Scottish filmmaker, writer and curator renowned for his films on architecture and design. His first film, on Charles Rennie Mackintosh, won five international awards, and he has since co-authored The Architects’ Architect on Mackintosh’s international influence. Grigor’s other award-winning films include groundbreaking documentaries on Frank Lloyd Wright, Robert Adam and John Soane, and the landmark PBS series Pride of Place with Robert Stern. His most recent film, Infinite Space: The Architecture of John Lautner, has been a festival favorite since its premiere in 2008 at UCLA’s Hammer Museum. Cinematographer/Producer Hamid Shams has served as director, cinematographer and/or producer for numerous television commercials, music videos and short and feature documentary/narrative films, including Infinite Space: The Architecture of John Lautner, Tie-Died: Rock ’n Roll’s Most Dedicated Fans, and Painting the Town—all of which received highly favorable reviews for cinematography in major newspapers and festivals around the US and Europe.

About Art by the Yard: Women Design Mid-Century Britain

Opening May 15, Art by the Yard will be view at The Textile Museum through September 12, 2010, and is the first exhibition of its kind in Washington, D.C. The art of textile design changed radically after World War II as Britain was transformed from a country devastated by war into an optimistic consumer society. Three women designers were pivotal in this artistic revolution: Lucienne Day (1917- 2010), Jacqueline Groag (1903-1985) and Marian Mahler (1911-1983). Incorporating dramatic saturated colors and bold motifs inspired by artists like Alexander Calder and Joan Miró, these young designers transformed the market by inspiring elegant yet affordable product lines that brought the world of contemporary art into everyone’s homes. The exhibition showcases the work of these groundbreaking women designers through the display of textiles together with drawings and collages, ceramics and period furniture, all drawn from the Jill A. Wiltse and H. Kirk Brown III Collection of British Textiles.

About Design Onscreen

Design Onscreen is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit foundation dedicated to producing, promoting and preserving high-quality films on architecture and design. Founded in 2007 by Denver documentary enthusiasts Jill A. Wiltse and H Kirk Brown III, Design Onscreen’s other architectural documentaries include: William Krisel, Architect (screening at LA’s Getty Center in April 2010), Journeyman Architect: The Life and Work of Donald Wexler (2009) and Desert Utopia: Midcentury Architecture in Palm Springs (2009). Another Design Onscreen film, Hella Jongerius: Contemporary Archetypes (2009), premiered in May 2009 at New York’s Museum of Modern Art and Museum of Art and Design. Please visit www.designonscreen.org for more information.

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Filed under: Concerts and Special Events, Exhibits, Press Releases, Public Programs, Uncategorized

The Textile Museum to participate in 27th annual Museum Walk Weekend

tmpressroom — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 14:42:02 +0000

The Textile Museum, part of the Dupont-Kalorama Museums Consortium (DKMC), is pleased to announce its participation in the 27th Annual Museum Walk Weekend, showcasing the art, history, and culture of two historic Washington, D.C. neighborhoods this summer. Anderson House, Dumbarton House, Fondo del Sol Visual Arts Center, General Federation of Women’s Clubs, Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site, Meridian International Center, National Museum of American Jewish Military History, The Phillips Collection, The Textile Museum, and the Woodrow Wilson House will open their doors free of charge for this weekend-long celebration and chance to stretch your legs and your mind.
Museum Walk Weekend offers a variety of free activities for all ages. This year’s highlights include special museum exhibitions (covering everything from mid-century art and design to a president’s beloved walking sticks), DC Jazz Festival’s Jazz ‘n’ Families Fun Days at The Phillips Collection, popular food vendors, and a photo contest celebrating these neighborhood museums organized by Washington City Paper. Stay tuned to City Paper Events for more details about entry and prizes.
For the second year in a row, DKMC is also teaming up with the Washington Area Bicyclists Association to make Walk Weekend bicyclist friendly by providing a safe bike route and leading rides between sites.
An information table for the public, providing schedules and maps, will be situated at Dupont Circle on Saturday, June 5 and at the Dupont Circle FRESHFARM Market on Sunday, June 6.
The 27th Annual Museum Walk Weekend media sponsor is Washington City Paper. Museum Walk Weekend is supported by Cultural Tourism DC, with additional support provided by the Renaissance Dupont Circle Hotel.
Note: Not all museums will be open both days; event held rain or shine.
For more information or images, visit www.dkmuseums.org or contact Katy Clune at kclune@textilemuseum.org.

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

Filed under: Concerts and Special Events, Education, Exhibits, Free, Press Releases, Public Programs Tagged: Dupont-Kalorama Museums Consortium, family, Free, Museum, Museum Walk Weekend, Non Profit, press release, Public Programs, washington dc