18 Exhibitions TEXTILES, THE ART OF MANKIND


Te Fashion and Textile Museum in London is presenting a celebration of the ancient and deep entanglement between textiles, people, and our world. Te exhibition brings together a vibrant collection of unexpected objects from around the world that tell stories, communicate human individuality, and celebrate our relationship with animals by expressing symbolic thought through pattern. With many works drawn from the Jo Ann C Stabb Design Collection, from the University of California, Davis, this is a good opportunity for a UK audience to view the collection. Te show begins with an


exploration of the importance of textiles to our society and the materials and techniques used in their creation. Te main galleries go on to show how textiles communicate individuality and how, across time and geography, textiles have articulated ‘this is who I am and this is what I believe’. Te textiles allow the viewer to explore textiles as our ‘second skin’, which often symbolises our nationality, authority, or belief systems. For example, a wedding dress from Egypt embellished with mother of pearl, silk embroidery, and cowry shells is seen alongside a Tai singing shawl designed to be worn at a funeral and decorated with beetle wings. An appliquéd Turkmen tribal coat and a Bolivian fiesta hat show how textiles can signify belonging and mark occasions. Other works include garments, panels, and ceremonial clothing from Japan, China, Afghanistan, Guatemala, Nigeria, and India, all of which are juxtaposed with modern Western dress and textiles such as a logoed golfer’s cap and an embroidered panel celebrating the lesbian and gay support of the 1980s miners’ strike. As well as giving us a sense


of identity, textiles have, for millennia, chosen to depict humans figuratively. Long before photography and the


Civil official rank badge (detail), Chinese, before 1850 © 2005-2012 The Regents of the University of California, Davis campus. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission.


advent of the selfie, textiles were the main carriers of imagery, and not surprisingly, they chose to show the human form. Tese were often not individual portraits, but representations of mythological or revered beings. Some held sacred significance, whilst others symbolised life’s mysteries or celebrated the bravery of hunters and kings. Items on display include a delicate, hand-painted Chinese silk tapestry scroll depicting a


legendary swordswoman. Also from China is a child’s decorative silk collar embroidered with lucky symbols that include a goldfish, butterfly, tortoise, and a crab. Animals in both two- and three-dimensional forms are a recurring theme in the story of textiles. Once part of early mythologies but equally part of daily human life, our love of animals is evident across textiles, and the exhibition showcases domestic, mythical, and wild animals in a huge range of formats. Animals may have auspicious meanings; many are thought to bring good luck, and strong, swift animals can represent virility, strength, and good health. Often believed to have supernatural powers that link heaven and earth, some animals are imbued with totemic status, acting as spirit guides whilst others became cultural emblems or official national symbols. Birds are especially popular


in textiles, and in this exhibition, there are several examples from Asia, including a 19th-century Chinese civil official’s second-rank badge of a golden pheasant among clouds, stitched in silk floss


Child’s collar embroidered with auspicious symbols, 20th century © 2005-2012 The Regents of the University of California, Davis campus. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission.


Man’s cotton headscarf, Bogo, Java, Indonesia, before 1964 © 2005-2012 The Regents of the University of California, Davis campus. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission


and gold thread. Te use of rank badges in China was initially introduced during the Ming dynasty, though the idea could have been inspired by ornamental plaques worn by nobles of the Yuan dynasty. Early Ming rank badges were made in one piece and lacked definite borders, while later Ming badges were woven with the wearer’s robe. When the Qing dynasty was established in 1644, rank badges were altered to fit the clothing of the new Manchu rulers. Rank badges became smaller and were displayed on both the back and chest of their robes, with the front badge split down the middle for the robe opening. Tey were used for members of the imperial family, court officials, and the nobility, civic officials, as well as military officers. Te civic and military


JAPAN AN ARTISTIC MELTING POT


One of a pair of screens (left), Wind God and Thunder God by Tawaraya Sotatsu, Edo period, 17th century, owned by Kenninji Temple by Kenninji Temple, Kyoto, Kyoto National Museum (on display throughout the year), National Treasure


ASIAN ART | APRIL 2025 | #AsianArtPaper |


Tis year, the World Expo is in Osaka (April to October), and a special exhibition brings together some of the greatest treasures of Japanese national art. Tese works were often dynamically shaped by different cultures from overseas over the centuries. Featuring paintings, sculptures, calligraphic works, and decorative arts from early Japan through to the modern era, the exhibition aims to trace this history of intercultural exchange within Japanese art through a selection of important national works of art. Te Japanese archipelago has had contact with foreign cultures for centuries, first by sea when ships arrived to trade. Reacting to this influx of foreign influences, various works of art were created in response to these encounters.


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Tese important works are the result of a rich exchange born from the fusion of diverse cultures into the ‘melting pot’ that is Japan. Te trajectory of


• Kyoto National Museum, kyohaku.go.jp


intercultural exchange can be seen in Japanese art through the selection of approximately 200 cultural properties, including 18 national treasures and 53 important cultural properties, including paintings, sculptures, calligraphy, and crafts from the Yayoi (circa 300 BC to circa AD 300) and Kofun periods (circa 300 to 538) through to the Meiji period (1868-1912).


• Rotation One,19 April to 18 May, Rotation Two, 20 May to 15 June


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A textile brought to Japan on a Nanban ship during the ‘Age of Discovery’, and probably used for trade, has been transformed into the daimyo Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s (1537-1598) jinbaori (war vest), silk, flatwoven kilim, constructed in Japan, woven in Persia, possibly Kashan, 16th century. 59 cm across shoulders. Kodai-Ji Temple, Japan, Kyoto National Museum


ranks each consisted of nine levels represented by nine different birds or animals. Tere is also an immortal peacock door hanging from Tailand, as well as a vivid hand-printed bird scarf from India, and a man’s cotton headscarf designed with birds, fish, and other animals from Indonesia. Mythical beasts such as dragons are represented alongside appliquéed iguanas, tortoises, and Tibetan snow leopard puppets. Te exhibition continues in


the upper galleries with an exploration of abstract pattern in textiles, featuring ikat, plaid, gingham, and tartan patterns from across the globe. Abstract patterns are often seen to represent symbolic ideas, with the vertical lines suggesting new


growth and the horizontal lines representing cooling winds in the warp and weft of a length of Indian sari fabric, whilst the shapes in a red and orange Peruvian poncho represent the relationship between the physical and spiritual worlds. In addition, the science and technology behind dyeing, the loom, knitting patterns, and 3D printing are explored alongside ideas of waste not, want not, and recycling that date back to ancient practices. Textile making is often a


• Until 7 September, Fashion + Textiles Museum, Newham College, London, fashiontextilemuseum.org


collaborative process, with many hands involved in the production of one piece and the role that collaborative making can have on our wellbeing is increasingly recognised.


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