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ON THE STEPPES OF GENGHIS KHAN – MONGOLIAN NOMADS
MOESGAARD MUSEUM, Denmark
Open until April 2019
ON THE STEPPES OF GENGHIS KHAN – MONGOLIAN NOMADS
Some of us always had a soft spot for Genghis Khan, the 13th century Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, and of the largest contiguous empire in history. The first thing I learned about Ghengis Kahan was that he listened to and respected his mother; that he was brutal and gentle at the same time; open to foreign religions; and instituted sophisticated government and taxing systems. The exhibit includes fantastic works from international loans and Danish museums showing the rich culture of these nomads of the steppes with their sheep, goats, horses and camels, often on the move, and in contact with merchants on ancient and present trade routes, bringing material wealth that can be seen in their ornaments, fabrics, costumes, tents and furniture. Reviews point out that the exhibit shows an intriguing alternative to our sedentary life.
Cheers,
Elisabeth
GERMAN BATIK ARTIST (BRIGITTE WILLACH ) MEETS JAVANESE BATIK GROUP BIMASAKTI
Brigitte Willach: “Jean’s Garden”, 2006; on Indonesian cotton.
This caught my attention in the most recent Textiles Asia Journal….
An extraordinary batik artist from Germany who has worked successfully for over twenty years creating batik in naturalistic, impressionistic and recently in abstract fashion has a special love for a group of batik artists – women and men – in central Java who have created very high quality batik in traditional designs, including for the court. The TEXTILES ASIA JOURNAL published in their Many 2017, Volume 9, Issue 1 an article written by Brigitte Willach about the Bimasakti batik group comprising about thirty members in a collective with six leading women.
Too bad I cannot show any photos from this article or give you a link but you can go to textilesasia.com and order your copy of the magazine TEXTILES ASIA JOURNAL; the magazine is published three times a year by Bonnie Corwin, bonniemcorwin@gmail.com and always contains with articles about subject matters, books, exhibitions, reports about textiles from all over Asia you do not find any place else by experts in their respective field. You may be able to buy the magazine at the Textile Museum in Washington,D.C. (remember it is now located at George Washington University on 231st Street,N.W.), Asian Art Museum in SFO, Josh Graham Oriental Textiles in London, Carole Cassidy Lao Textiles in Vientiane.
Cheers,
Elisabeth
British Museum’s Free Exhibition
Given to the British Museum in 1905 by Perceval Landon (a friend of Rudyard Kipling), the museum is exhibiting the Vrindavani Vastra woven textile from the 21st of January until the 15th of August. This is a free exhibit and open to the public.
This late 17th century silk textile is woven with a technique that no longer exists in India today. Extending over a length of more than 9 meters, the textile shows different scenes of the life of Krishna and a verse from the Bhagavata Purana, a 10th century text.
Additional items from this period will also be displayed alongside the textile.
More information can be found by clicking the following link : Indian Textile at British Museum
Cheers,
Elisabeth and Natasha
The ASIAN ART NEWSPAPER
FOR COLLECTORS, DEALERS, MUSEUMS AND GALLERIES
If you want to stay informed about Asian art exhibits in North America, Asia, Europe and Australia – look it up in the Asian Art Newspaper, published every month. Has in-depth articles on artists, museums, cities with Asian art collections.
paper and digital
Equally informative is TEXTILES ASIA Journal. The January edition carries a wonderful article on the significance of the zodiac animal of sheep – at the beginning of a new lunar year of the sheep, decoration on Angkorian architecture decoration and their connection and presentation on textiles; Barkcloth at the Djakarta Textile Museum; Taiwan National Museum’s exhibition of the Qipao, the Mandarin term for cheongsam, the stylish and tight fitting dress made fashionable by Shanghai society in the 1920s.
Cheers,
Elisabeth
TEXTILES
Dear China Coast Friends,
TEXTILES
PRESERVATION DISPLAY CONSERVATION STORAGE
This is a little bit off my subject but I receive so many calls about how to preserve and display textiles that I decided to post this article by Julia M. Brennan that appeared recently in TEXTILES ASIA (www.textilesasia.com).
Julia Brennan has been passionately involved with textile conservation and preservation around the world on behalf of collectors, museums, historical associations and foreign governments for over twenty-five years. In this article she highlights a number of issues concerning display, storage, temperature and insects. She works with European tapestries, Oriental carpets and Asian textiles. Her website is: www.caringfortextiles.com
I have permission to show the article as it was printed in the Textiles Asia magazine.
Cheers,
Elisabeth
Textiles make the world go round!
Must see exhibit
INTERWOVEN GLOBE: THE WORLDWIDE TEXTILE TRADE 1500-1800
Metropolitan Museum September 16, 2013 to January 5, 2014
If you have ever wondered about the origin of the inexpensive and colorful tree of life block printed Indian cotton bedcovers – go to this Metropolitan Museum exhibit and learn all about the international textile trade shaped for centuries by the cultures of China, India, Europe, the Middle East and South America. The Silk Road already saw expensive fabrics sent to wealthy Roman patrons but this exhibit focuses on the time after international traders searched for a sea route further south after Constantinople was captured by the Ottomans Turks, — and along the way the merchants found textiles. It is rare that an entire exhibit filling several galleries is devoted to textiles. The Portuguese, the Dutch, the British, often sponsored and financed by their trading companies crisscrossed the globe and spread designs, colors and fabrics across the world. Craftsmen and artists influenced and copied each other. I have always been very partial to the palambore fabric, lush in design and colors, with exotic plant and flowers, perhaps first designed in England but made into something distinctly Indian.
If you want to read about textiles made for trade and export, you will enjoy:
WOVEN CARGOES INDIAN TEXTILES IN THE EAST, by John Guy,Thames and Hudson, 1998. John Guy is a Curator in the Indian and South-East Asian Department at the V & A, London. The book describes the trade in Indian textiles to Southeast Asia and the Far East. There is a wonderful photo on page 168 of a Japanese Kosode (undergarment) kimono made from an Indian palambore fabric with flowering tree design from the eighteenth century.
And textile lovers should never forget the TEXTILES ASIA JOURNAL, BONNIE CORWIN, PUBLISHER AND EDITOR.
Cheers,
Recomended Titles
I recently came across a few very interesting books that I wanted to share with you.
For years I have tried to convince clients, collectors and dealers of the merits of late 19th/early 20th century Japanese textiles, some made for export. These are very accomplished embroideries, often with resist-dye silks and velvets, tapestry works, and appliqué – used for large textiles but also for kimonos we so much admire. I believe they were and still are not appreciated so much because they date from a relatively late period but one forgets that many of these techniques are no longer used today and have become rare. The textiles and kimonos once used are no longer in demand. If you find an artist in Japan who still works with these techniques, his/her works are often more expensive than the older version.
This book deals with the old question of authenticity – in Chinese culture everything has a precedent, and paintings, sculpture and other works are produced, reproduced, replicated not so much to fake but to render something according to and in hommage to earlier masters. This approach goes back all the way to antiquity when jade and bronze pieces from earlier periods were replicated. Later emperors excelled in producing wares imitating such earlier renditions.
Kamisaka Sekka (1866-1942) was one of Japan’s leading artist, designer and art instructor. He led the revival of the 17th century Rinpa style while at the same time creating modern designs in ceramics, lacquer ware, textiles and woodblock prints, combining Japanese and Western design influences. I especially admire his woodblock prints which can be bold and elegant at the same time. The Clark Center for Japanese Art and Culture in Hanford, California had an exhibition about Kamisaka Sekka in summer 2012 featuring his paintings, scrolls and prints.
BATIK: SPECTACULAR TEXTILES OF JAVA
THE ASIAN ART MUSEUM IN SAN FRANCISCO
CENTRAL ASIAN IKATS
If you are interested in vibrant textiles, please visit
COLORS OF THE OASIS:CENTRAL ASIAN IKATS
at the SEATTLE ART MUSEUM
through August 5th. Read more…
Underkimono, 19th century, Japanese
ORDER AND BORDER
exhibit
at the SEATTLE ART MUSEUM
through October 21st, 2012
A great exhibit of fabrics and things incorporating stripes. Please be sure and click on the bibliography button – it leads you to a number of very interesting books for us who are passionate about textiles. Read more here…
Elisabeth Wien's Blog 