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Tuesday, 21 March 2006 | Elif Sungur
Flowers, Dragons and Pine Trees: Asian Textiles
Comprising some three hundred objects, the collection of Asian textiles in the Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas has remained a hidden treasure since its inception nearly a century ago. This small but important collection, which includes textiles from East, South, and Central Asia dating from the fifteenth through twentieth centuries, displays remarkable geographical breadth, great diversity of technique, and a broad range of functions. With highlights including late Persian textiles, Indian embroideries, Kashmir shawls, Chinese court costume, and Japanese folk garments, the Spencer's Asian textiles are rich in history and design, offering a wealth of information and beauty.
The Spencer's South Asian textiles represent both the consummate skill of professional craftsmen and the vivacity of folk designs. The latter may be seen in profusion on the embroideries of Northwest India and Pakistan, while the former is embodied in the Kashmir shawl, the fine garment of meticulous workmanship that swept Europe by storm in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Chinese textiles, with nearly 140 pieces, form the single largest group of Asian textiles in the collection. The court robes and rank badges, women's garments, sleeve bands and other objects also share a profound visual language of great antiquity, with symbols drawn from Buddhism, Daoism, and native folk belief. Many of these symbols are also found on Japanese textiles, although simple, geometrically patterned garments of indigo-dyed cotton or hemp form an equally important and interesting part of this group. Innovative and unique dyeing methods, used on a variety of garment types, futon covers and other accessories, are hallmark of Japanese textile design, while bast fibers and distinctive stitching techniques characterize the textile traditions of rural areas far from the capital.
Flowers, Dragons and Pine Trees is made possible by the generosity of the David Woods Kemper Memorial Foundation, the Breidenthal-Snyder Foundation, Dave and Gunda Hiebert, the Kansas Arts Commission, a state agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. Additional support provided by corporate sponsor The World Company.
The exhibition can be viewed until May 28, 2006.
For further information, please visit http://www.spencerart.ku.edu/exhibitions/exhibitions.html
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