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.

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.”

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). 

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.

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.

HAPPENING THIS WEEK AT THE TEXTILE MUSEUM:

SECOND LIVES: THE AGE-OLD ART OF RECYCLING TEXTILES
On view through January 8, 2012

GREEN: THE COLOR AND THE CAUSE
Opening Saturday, April 16, 2011

All upcoming programs will take take place. For more information about the following programs and registration fees, and for a complete listing of upcoming events, visit http://textilemuseum.org/calendar/calendar.htm

Saturday, April 9 -10:30 AM
RUG & TEXTILE APPRECIATION MORNING
What’s Islamic About Oriental Carpets?

Saturday, April 9 – 1:30 PM
HIGHLIGHTS TOUR

Sunday. April 10 – 1:30 PM
HIGHLIGHTS TOUR

Saturday, April 16
EXHIBITION OPENS: Green: the Color and the Cause

Saturday, April 16 – 11 AM
PUBLIC GALLERY TALK AND TOUR

Saturday, April 16- 1:30 PM
HIGHLIGHTS TOUR  

Sunday, April 17 – 1:30 PM
HIGHLIGHTS TOUR 

Sunday, April 17 – 2 PM
ARTIST LECTURE SERIES
Shigeo Kubota: Light and Shadow in Japanese Space

Download the press release in PDF form.

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.

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.

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.

Silk Ikat scarves from Uzbekistan ($60)

The Textile Museum Shop is the perfect place to buy one-of-a-kind gifts this holiday season. Shoppers will find a colorful assortment of new ikat items to coincide with the exhibit Colors of the Oasis: Central Asian Ikats (on view through March 13, 2011) as well as other unique gift ideas. The shop provides museum visitors with a convenient holiday shopping opportunity and shares special holiday discounts with museum members.

In conjunction with the museum’s newest exhibit, Colors of the Oasis: Central Asian Ikats, visitors will find a variety of related products for sale in the shop that showcase the colorful and dramatic designs created using the specialized ikat dyeing process. Available for purchase are vibrant ikat scarves, handbags, bracelets, men’s ties, books and many beautiful ikat apparel items, such as original Uzbek coats and jackets, hand-painted silk robes and modern printed cotton robes.

From December 3 – 5, the shop offers museum members a 25% discount on all merchandise during “The TM Member VIP Weekend.” This is one of the shop’s most popular annual events, and members may also apply the discount to online purchases made during the VIP Weekend.

Recently named one of the “5 Best Museum Shops” in Washington, D.C. by Frommers.com and one of the 10 “Best U.S. Museum Gift Shops” by Apartment Therapy, The Textile Museum Shop offers a colorful selection of scarves, jewelry, books, fine fabrics and other handmade goods for sale year-round. The shop is always bringing in new items from artists around the globe. There are Peruvian hats, handbags, and scarves made by weavers of the Center for Traditional Textiles of Cusco, embellished handbags from Afghanistan, and embroidered suzani textiles from Central Asia.

Proceeds from shop sales support the museum and allow it to continue its mission to expand public knowledge and appreciation – locally, nationally, and internationally – of the artistic merits and cultural importance of the world’s textiles.

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