by Gebhart Blazek & Henri Crouzet

In the period between 1998 - 2002, when an international market raised a strong interest in Moroccan Henna textiles, the veils of the Ahel Telt were among the most demanded types. The Ahel Telt live in the most northern part of the Middle Atlas as a part of the Beni Ouarain confederation. Their territory is situated east + southeast of the Jebel Tazzeka + south of the Oued Msoun valley. Similar to the surrounding neighbours of the Beni Ouarain confederation the Ahel Telt used to live mainly from semi-nomadic cattle breeding in the past.

It is interesting to remark that among all the Beni Ouarain tribes, examples of the complete set of textiles of the traditional female costume have only been preserved to our days in the small region of this group. While the women's shawls called 'tabrdouhte' or 'tabbnoute' (arab. handira) have been kept on being produced until the 1970ies or 1980ies even, the production of the large wrapping textiles ('tahraoukht'), the veils ('taritat' or 'tarredat'), the head bands ('tachedat n'tritat') + the traditional form of belts ('abkass ouziza') had been abandoned much earlier, generally in the 1920ies - 1930ies. In the period between 1998 - 2002, when an international market raised a strong interest in Moroccan Henna textiles, the veils ('taritat') of the Ahel Telt were among the most demanded types.

by Pierre Galafassi

Chemically speaking, wool is keratin, a protein copolymer containing about 17 different amino-acid monomers. The main elements are cystine, leucine, glycine and glutamic acid. Covalent cross-linking of adjacent cystine residues by disulphide bonds is a major factor for the mechanical properties of keratin fibres. The bond fragility to high temperature (over 90-100°C), alkaline pH, reduction or oxidation, must be taken into account in dyeing.

Anfang der neunziger Jahre sah ich zum ersten mal Stickereien der Banjara. Ich war auf einer Einkaufsreise in Gujarat auf der Suche nach alten Textilien. Ich wollte eine repräsentative Sammlung indischer Stücke zusammentragen.  Seit einigen Jahren verfolgte ich dieses Ziel und ich war recht erfolgreich.  Meine Schränke daheim waren ziemlich voll, im Bücherschrank standen alle verfügbaren Bücher und Veröffentlichungen und mir fehlten eigentlich nur noch wenige Typen.  Genauer gesagt, ich war auf der Suche nach alten Turbanen aus Rajasthan - ich sollte sie einige Wochen später in der Nähe von Jaipur finden - und nach guten tie- and- dye odhinis und patolas, die ja auch aus Gujarat kommen.  Bis jetzt war ich mit meinen Einkäufen zufrieden.

This article is an introduction to the embroidered covers and hangings of the Punjab known as phulkari and bagh, which are worked with mainly geometric designs in floss silk on hand-woven cotton. It has been extracted from a more comprehensive German language monograph circulated privately during the mid-199os. The author collects and deals in tribal textiles, and his collection contains more than a hundred prime examples of these colourful folk embroideries.

I wish I had surfed into the Turkotek site for the first time sooner than just a couple of months ago.  I might not have compounded my konfuzion and kosts about khalyks and kapunuks.  I might have learned from John Howe’s 2007 opening gambit that:

Historically, the ‘khalyk’ has been a source of controversy and mystery.

and Margret and I – not being "carpetologists", dealers or collectors, and lacking the knowledge and experience of most Forum members – would not have feverishly pursued a gnawing issue about "our" supposed kapunuk.  Bravely, though, today I risk correcting John’s observation from:

... has been a source ... to ... is still a source ... of controversy and mystery.

In this special exhibition the Bard Graduate Center and the Metropolitan Museum of Art collaborate to exhibit English embroidery from between 1580 and 1700. In this SundayArts Choice co-curator Andrew Morrall shows us a very special piece, a portrait of an Elizabethan lady that is the oldest portrait in the embroidery medium as well as other unique pieces shown in this exhibit on view until April 12, 2009.

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The Coptic period of Egypt is well known for the colorful and imaginative art expressed in the fabric of the day. Mythical figures and allegorical references to religious icons are beautifully expressed through the embroidery and tapestry work. Although most of early period pieces were more than 1,000 years old, the fabric still holds much of the color and beauty it originally showed. Coptic textiles have survived through the ages because of the burial practices of the Copts and the dry climate of Egypt.

Op het eerste gezicht lijken de kleren, die onze achttiende-eeuwse voorouders droegen voor ons ‘vreemd’ en ‘onlogisch’, maar wanneer we deze mode in een historische context plaatsen blijkt het een en ander echter als vanzelfsprekend uit elkaar te volgen. Aan het begin van de 18de eeuw werd het laatzeventiende- eeuwse strenge, verticale en nauwsluitende silhouet verlaten voor een soepel vallende, wijde lijn. De robe volant of sac, zoals hij in ons land werd genoemd, was oorspronkelijk bedoeld als deshabillé of informele dracht maar zou al snel aan terrein winnen buiten het boudoir. Hij bestond uit drie delen: een openvallende, enkellange japon met halflange mouwen en een stelsel van platte plooien op de rug; een driehoekig borststuk of devant-de-gorge (dat letterlijk ‘vóór de borst’ betekent) en een rok. Deze driedelige samenstelling van een japon zou de gehele 18de eeuw gehandhaafd blijven en pas na de Franse Revolutie plaats maken voor japonnen uit één stuk.

Kaitag is a small district in Daghestan's mountains. It consists essentially of two villages, and probably never had a total population much over 7,000 people. Spectacular silk embroideries were produced there from at least the 17th century to the early 20th century.

Kaitag embroideries are done on a cotton ground, usually around 2' x 4', made of several pieces joined together before being embroidered with silk floss. The embroidery technique is relatively unusual, the floss being laid onto the surface of the ground cloth in parallel lines and then tacked down (couched). This results in nearly all the silk being on the same side of the textile, with very little of it visible on the back side. The style of drawing is also quite characteristic, tending to be highly irregular and fluid, rather than angular. The embroideries were apparently made for three broad classes of use, and reasonable guesses of which use a particular one had may be made from the designs on it.

Folk art is a window into the consciousness of a people. The items nomads made for their personal use thus yield genuine insight into their cultures and ways of life. Of course, the converse is true as well: Knowledge about nomadic peoples gleaned from other sources help illuminate the uses and meanings of their textiles.

In this article, I wish to focus on woven bags in the nomadic societies of Western and Central Asia.