The Warmth of Other Suns – Stories of Global Displacement

August 20, 2019 By Julia 2 Comments

The Phillips Collection, Washington DC until September 22

If there is one exhibit on your list this summer, make this the one…soon.

The movement and dislocation of humans, globally and historically, is explored by 75 artists through film, painting, photography, sculpture, clothing, collage…… from 18th c African slave trade, migrant workers in the US, Ellis Island, Japanese American incarceration, Trail of Tears, Algerian war, human trafficking, Vietnam Boat People, and the present exodus from Libya, Palestine, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Sudan, Somalia, Turkey, Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Myanmar, Bangladesh…….It is an overwhelming show; sad, poignant, confrontational, and creative.

“American Red Sea” by Paulo Nazareth, with embroidered and drawn map on Egyptian cotton muslin dress – worn on a multi-country journey from Brazil to New York, evokes protection from the sun and wearing one piece of simple clothing for an arduous and dangerous long journey on foot to freedom.

Again, the theme of human displacement and death is so powerfully expressed in clothing. Single pieces and collective piles evoke the intimacy and the bare necessity of simple protections that unite us as humans. It is common clothing; so familiar we feel it could be our own. A child’s soccer jersey, jeans, a fleece hoodie, canvas sneaker – beloved, tattered, adorned with names, life-saving, abandoned – these symbolize the human trails of hope, displaced from war, torture, climate change, racism, government policies.

Abandoned shoes with little hopeful sails…

: Francis Alys’s Study for Don’t Cross the Bridge Before you Get to the River.”

: Oil on encaustic paintings.

Caption: Meschac Gaba’s ‘Memorial for Drowned Refugees’, 2016, a simple pile of blankets and lanterns, to keep the spirits of the lost ones warm – the reenactment of a ritual in Benin becomes symbolic of the thousands who have lost their lives crossing the Mediterranean and those they leave behind.

Throughout the show is the tumbling, frightening, thunder of the sea – the body of water, we think of as being ‘neutral’ and non-political, but which tears families apart, drowns and destroys dreams. Flotsam clothing is scattered over the floor, as if strewn on a beach, with landscape photos of the ocean creating an environment of physical power and threat. This is what is left of those who tried to cross to a new life. Kader Attia’s 2015 installation speaks to what is not there – the people and forces us to remember the many migrants who have tried to cross the sea to safety.

: Caption: Liu Xiaodong’s 2015 painting depicts a group of Syrian refugees in Lesbos, in the ubiquitous blue of global clothing today, tucked under emergency blankets, each portrait executed in beautiful detail and nuance.

The film ‘Vertigo Sea’ by John Akomfrah, a triptych projection of the power of the sea and nature, tells the human and animal migration story through old whaling footage, photos of massacred slaves, present-day refugee images, trophy hunting, bounty hunting. The photography is magnificent. Allocate 45 minutes to enter this world of migration, movement and violent beauty before exploring the rest of the exhibit.

Adel Abdessemed’s 2007 room sized ‘Queen Mary, The Mother’, a fragile composite model of the ocean liner made of flimsy food tins, symbolizes risk and tragedy.

Caption: Benny Andrews, American artist retraces the Trail of Tears, when over 15,000 died in the 1830’s forced march of Native Americans from Florida west. Part painting, and collage, he uses cloth in a 3 dimensional manner to create the burden of bundles and precious shrouds people carry with them. He draws parallels to the victims of Katrina today, pointing out government responses throughout history to marginalized citizens.

For more about this exhibit:

Exhibit hours & info

Susan Stamberg review

Field Trip: Williamsburg, Virginia

May 19, 2017 By Julia Leave a Comment

We visit “Printed Fashions: Textiles for Clothing and the Home”

By Kaitlyn Munro

Lauren and I recently returned from a fabulous trip to Colonial Williamsburg (Virginia) to attend the symposium, Printed Fashions: Textiles for Clothing and the Home. We were honored to present a paper “Burn Out”, about a range of conservation techniques for stabilizing damaged 18th century printed textiles. There were many wonderful papers and so much important research presented on the history of these vibrant textiles. In conjunction with the symposium, a new exhibit celebrates Colonial Williamsburg’s impressive printed textile collection, including some never before displayed pieces.

So many garments to study and admire!

: A beautiful quilt with a John Hewson printed centerpiece

: A sweet little doll wearing her printed wrapping gown

: Many printed scraps of fabric compose this pocket

: I was especially excited to see this amazing jacket in person, because it is so famous amongst reenactors and historical costumers!

You, dear reader, have plenty of time to check out the exhibit yourself since it will be up for two years!

We also had the chance to explore Duke of Gloucester Street where we popped in the weaver shop.

: Warps are ready to go!

: Vials of natural dyes

Beautifully dyed skeins of yarn hung above the fireplace.

Finally, you can’t visit Colonial Williamsburg without taking silly pictures in the stocks!

If you would like to learn more about weavers in colonial America, visit this site.

Read more about “Printed Fashions: Textiles for Clothing and the Home.”

In Fond Memory of Olive B. Graffam

May 3, 2017 By Julia 8 Comments

Olive B. Graffam, Curator of Collections, Daughters of the American Revolution, DAR Museum

It is rare and wonderful to work with the same client for nearly 20 years…and over this time a treasured relationship developed; tender, deeply thoughtful, and professional. We got to know each other’s families, and grandchildren by name, and shared our challenges and happiness through a continuous thread of conversations. She took a very special interest in my teaching and traveling in Asia…Olive was someone I always thought about, from long long distances, needle art all over the world reminded me of her.

Olive had an astounding knowledge and passion for the samplers and textiles that she was the Curator for at the DAR Museum for so many years. She knew the collection like a hand of cards; and could tell stories about each sampler, and what characteristics were common to those from say Alexandria Va. or Pottstown PA. Because of her scholarship, DAR members entrusted her with the needle art from their families, and the collection grew under her stewardship. From Olive I learned a lot, about American samplers, in particular. Whenever a question about a sampler arose, Olive was the first person I called. She was so generous with her knowledge.

She entrusted me, as a conservator, to work on over 80 samplers in the DAR collection. Many needed to come off old acidic cardboard or cotton, and be carefully tested and de acidified. Other steps included repairs, stabilizations, and either stitch mounting the sampler to a padded support for framing, or a passive mat for long term storage (often done in collaboration with Bill Butler, at Archival Arts).

When I first met Olive, her husband Earl, would always drive her to work and to my studio to drop off or collect the samplers and textiles. Like a gentleman, he waited in the car, and would never ever accept my offer of a coffee or armchair inside. After Ernie died, we all started going to the DAR to meet with Olive and collect the samplers. She took a taxi to and from work. Olive died at the age of 85, and had only retired last year.

Here are some of Olive’s favorite samplers we conserved over the years.

: Some of her most favorite samplers were these…

: …the very simple Quaker school samplers…

: …no fancy trees or animals or architecture…

: …on light linen…

: …just letters, numbers and skills awakening.

Articles and more to see and read….

Read a review of her 2008 Schoolgirl sampler exhibit here.

Among others, Olive published this article:
Telling Their Stories: 19th Century Samplers and Silk Needlework

She was also engaged in the Sampler Archive

How to wash your Kimono 101

March 2, 2017 By Julia 2 Comments

The tradition of the Araihari Shop

By Kaitlyn Munro

I recently travelled to Tokyo to visit family, and naturally found myself surrounded by beautiful textiles and traditions. One of my favorite museums was The Metropolitan Edo-Tokyo Museum, that tells the story of Tokyo during the Edo Period, 1603-present day.

In the permanent exhibit, you can wander through an area of life-sized buildings that represent “munewari nagaya” or typical tenement row houses where people lived and worked. Displayed is a traditional araihari shop where kimonos were taken for cleaning and care. These shops began to appear in Japan at the beginning of the Edo period.

What exacting and time consuming work to wash a treasured kimono! First, the kimono was fully disassembled. Greater value was placed on the actual fabric, its quality, rather than the stitching or construction. These prized panels of fabric, often silk, were cleaned, re starched, mended, and reconstructed into the kimono. Long cherished – when kimonos became too worn, they were often converted into other clothing, ties, or household cloths.

From The MET collection, “Two Japanese Women Posing with Laundry” 1870

There were two main methods of drying the kimono panels. Itabari refers to the method of cleaning, starching, and stretching or “blocking” the cloths onto wooden boards (much like painting and scroll mounting). Shinshibari is when the cloth panels are dried by hanging tensioned between two bamboo bars or shinshi. Different techniques were used for different fabrics, but the Itabari, the easier method, became more widely practiced.

: Shinshibari

: Itabari

If you ever find yourself in Tokyo, be sure to check out the Metropolitan Edo-Tokyo Museum!

Sources:

http://metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/288546?rpp=60&pg=3&ao=on&ft=japanese&pos=169

https://furugistarjapan.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/shunsho_katsukawa-no_series-stretching_out_cloth_to_dry-00028933-020219-f00.jpg

https://www.edo-tokyo-museum.or.jp/en/

All that glitters is not gold… sometimes it’s silver, or even copper.

April 8, 2015 By Julia 8 Comments

Precious metals have long been used as status symbols, so it is no surprise to find them adorning prestigious royal and religious textiles. Even though metal thread embroideries and weavings have been desired by pharaohs, queens, and sultans for centuries, they have also been found in Asian court repositories and medieval tombs.

: This 1870’s Masonic apron is embroidered with silver and gold-wash metallic threads, ribbon, and bullion fringes.

: Detail of Masonic apron, c. 1870.

Metallic cloths, although cold to the touch and heavy to wear, are prized for their sparkle and sheen. Imagine sunshine on the silver thread in an Indian sari, or candlelight dancing on the embroidered inscriptions of a Muslim door cloth. Images of saints wrought in gold glimmer on the silks and velvets of a Renaissance chasuble (vestment). Even the military is not immune to this precious metal dandyism, with dress uniforms adorned with shining golden epaulettes, frogs and insignia.

Gold, which is highly malleable and rust-free, is the most expensive and prized of the materials, but it is rarely used in its pure form. Most often it is rolled into a cord, or pounded flat and wrapped around a silk or cotton core – called Passing. It can then be embroidered, twisted, couched or tied onto fine fabrics.

: Gold metallic thread embroidery adorns a 19th Century western Indian maharaja’s cap – shown before…

: …and after surface cleaning.

Some textiles are named for the content of the gold thread used, such as in the Siamese court. One of the most sumptuous and expensive cloths (often produced in India) was a silk and metallic thread brocade which contained more than 75% gold and was called “jer a bab.”

Types of metallic threads have exotic and evocative names like jaceron, lizerine, bullion, crimped purl, faconee, crinkle cordonnet, rococo, and soutache braid.

Lang-nom-saaw hammered thread.

There is even a Thai hammered thread named for the shape of woman’s breast – แล่งนมสาว or “Lang-nom-saaw,” (“nom” = breast, “saw” = woman). This particular type of thread is similar to the one used in the Western Indian ladies slipper below.

: Here are a pair of elegant court ladies slippers from Western India, 19th Century, with crimped, hammered silver, pearls and metal sequins.

: Our treatment involved cleaning the metal components, and couching the springy wire pieces onto the shoes.

: Detail of court slippers.

Silver, copper and other alloys are also used in textiles, each type oxidizing and darkening in a different way. Cleaning metallic threads is a delicate process. A few very gentle and non-intrusive methods can often provide a little twinkle of what the textile once looked like. Unfortunately, it is not a permanent treatment, as all metals will continue to oxidize and tarnish.

What is your favorite metallic thread textile? Do you have a uniform with gold thread or a gown with silver filaments? We’d love to hear your thoughts.