Timbuktu To Tibet: Rugs And Textiles

Through the display of 90 Oriental carpets and other woven objects, the exhibition showcases the dazzling beauty of the pieces and explores the context in which they were created and used within cultures on several continents. Timbuktu to Tibet is on view October 18, 2008 through March 8, 2009.

With textiles, people around the world express their diverse traditions, lifestyles, fashions and technologies, all while addressing fundamental physical, aesthetic and spiritual needs. Textiles serve as clothing, provide shelter and accompany rituals. Through material, color, pattern, design and other facets, textiles reveal an individual’s wealth, social status, occupation, and religious and ethnic associations, as well as a culture’s values, codes and social order. Timbuktu to Tibet illuminates these encoded messages and explores the varying functions of carpets and textiles. By examining the practical uses and complex iconography of the rugs and textiles on view, the exhibition offers visitors a deeper look into the lives, beliefs and events that shape cultures around the world.

Exhibition Themes

One of the determining factors in how textiles have been made, decorated and used, from Africa to East Asia, is whether they originate in nomadic or settled cultures. The textiles produced by these two types of societies differ greatly in their aesthetic, technical and functional qualities; because of their continuous interaction, however, nomadic and settled people have shaped each other’s textile traditions.

Nomadic Textiles: Caravans and Animal Covers

In nomadic societies, textiles facilitated life on the move and provided a medium for artistic expression. They were made for personal use, solely by women, and only sold in times of extreme hardship. Beyond their practical role as furnishings and other items for everyday living, textiles were used as decoration on animals and in tents during special occasions such as weddings, religious ceremonies and when hosting guests. Traditional designs were passed down by memory from grandmother to mother to daughter, with little change over five or more centuries. Many familiar motifs have now-forgotten origins, such as the hooked motif rendered in a variety of color combinations on a bag woven by women of the Shahsevan tribe in northwestern Iran. This motif was common to several Iranian and Turkic weaving communities of West and Central Asia. Its origin has never been satisfactorily explained, but the ease with which it was memorized ensured its continued use with little change over 500 years.

Urban Objects: Luxury Goods for the Fashion Leader

Textiles with the most intricate designs, complex weave structures, and expensive silk and metal yarns were produced by people living in settled societies who had greater financial and human resources. For centuries, the wealthy urban elite and ruling families provided the assets to sustain highly specialized and skilled craftsmen, from designers to weavers, who worked on major textile projects. Settled societies also had adequate time and financial means to pursue sericulture, or silk cultivation, and to grow cotton, both of which produce important materials for weaving.

In traditional Islamic urban societies, the fashion leader was the king, shah, sultan or local ruler who, according to the ideals of the time, would maintain an artistic establishment employing poets, artists, musicians and a great variety of skilled craftsmen. These craftsmen produced items of the highest quality, such as weapons, furnishings, clothing and animal trappings for the court’s use. These courtly styles were closely followed by people of lesser means, who were always keen to stay in fashion. High on the list of desirable items were silk textiles, which were produced by the most advanced technology of the times and often were the most expensive items in circulation. These silk textiles were frequently copied using a less expensive material or a technology such as embroidery that did not require large, complex looms.

Village Weavings: Women’s Work

Existing between the highly commercialized textile industries of urban centers and the personal weavings made in nomadic societies are objects produced in villages. Village weavers, always women, worked at home creating textiles for themselves and for sale. This part-time self-employment supplemented the family income and allowed the women to fit the weaving work into their days while also keeping an eye on their children. Textiles made within these communities tended to have strong primary colors and bold designs. Their patterns often emulated the sophisticated urban originals but in execution retained the simple beauty and style of a distinct local character. -- www.textilemuseum.org