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Beadwork – full of brilliant colour and pattern – is one of the most dynamic art forms in Africa. Beads are a widespread feature of adornment and have been treasured by African people throughout history. Beadwork traditions signal things such as group identity, age, marital status, social rank and spiritual state. The 2004 exhibition Patterns of Life: Beadwork from East and South Africa tells the story of these beadwork traditions.
This exhibition tells the story of the great West African kingdoms from the 3rd to the 16th centuries through a selection of masterful cloths, ritual garments and beadwork, and shows how their power and beauty inform contemporary African textiles.
The mystique of the colour blue – beautiful, elusive, reflecting the sky and the sea – pervades human life and culture around the world. The Blues. examines the powerful symbolism associated with the colour blue.
Rugs and textiles from North Africa
Every thread has a soul – this Arab proverb is particularly true for the textile culture of Maghreb, the most northwestern part of Africa. Between the Sea and the Desert showcases the Textile Museum’s rich and diverse Northwest African collection of rugs, shawls and garments on view for the first time.
This week, our object of the week post was written by Brenna MacPhee, and she has chosen a kanga cloth from Tanzania!
This week’s Object of the Week is a silk shawl.
Bukhara features a collection of Central Asian ikats and embroidered silks — coats, veils, wall hangings and coverlets from the Textile Museum’s permanent collection — to visualize the Bukhara region’s rich textile history and place it within the diverse cultural traditions of Asia.
Four contemporary artists explore the relationship of patterns, communication and spirit in conversation with textiles and symbols from the Museum’s permanent collection of Islamic African artifacts. Magic squares, known all over the world as mathematical games like Sudoku and Kenken, become carriers of powerful and diverse cultural meanings when they are painted, woven or embroidered on textiles in Muslim Africa.
Veiled examines the act of veiling the body not only as a material and physical gesture, but also as an emotional and personal process. Artists Andrew McPhail, Grace Ndiritu and Tazeen Qayyum use the idea of a veil as a poetic device for the investigation of public vs. private space, protection and intimacy.