Almost two weeks ago, my husband and I left on a flight to Alexandria, Virginia. We were finally meeting a new grandson and welcoming back a son and his family from Germany. We had such a memorable and wonderful time seeing our two grandchildren and catching up with news and life. One of the days I had some free time, so I took the metro over to The Textile Museum in Washington DC. I had been there previously about six years ago and found it to be worthy of time well-spent. It is also housed in the most beautiful building in a picturesque part of the city.
When you walk in the front door, this is the garden that you see directly in the back. This could be England or France. Impeccably maintained, it is a museum not to be missed.
Even the bathroom is stenciled with textile terms. Everything in this building is a textile lover’s paradise.
I keep up with their ongoing special exhibits, and I was not going to miss the opportunity of seeing this one, “Colors of the Oasis: Central Asian Ikats”. The dates of this exhibit are October 16,2010 through March 13, 2011. If you are anywhere near the area, it is well worth the effort to see this amazing, colorful exhibit. It features a collection given to The Textile Museum by collector Murad Megalli that includes nineteenth-century Central Asian ikat “robes for men and women and women’s dresses and pants, as well as cradle covers, hanging and fragments.” I have to say that it was absolutely breathtaking to walk into the rooms and see these pieces displayed against midnight blue walls. The designs and colors of these pieces just popped. I wanted to take photos, but of course it was prohibited.
As a note to this exhibit, I read that Murad Megalli was killed in a plane crash on February 4, 2011 just as this exhibit was nearing its ends. What a legacy he left behind and how generous was his gift to The Textile Museum.
I purchased the book because this is subject matter I find so fascinating to study, the history of the area, its people, the textiles, and the beauty and dedication of this magical craft of ikat dyeing and weaving. And the colors are so rich and captivating. The exhibit also coincided with another post I did on Russian textiles, as many of the linings of these robes come from Russia. This is the book that describes these textiles that were used, and they displayed a copy of this book by Susan Meller along side the featured exhibit book.
The second exhibit is one that is near and dear to many of us who write blogs about using and reusing clothing and textiles, “Second Lives: the Age-Old Art of Recycling Textiles”. When I entered this room, I just wanted to spend luxurious time here taking in all the beauty of the stitching and the old and loved and well-worn recycled pieces. However, the museum was about to close and so my fifteen minutes here were rather hurried. The flyer says the exhibit will last through January of 2012, but the newsletter says this exhibit ends July 10, 2011. Either way, there is plenty of time to see this if you are anywhere near the area in the next four months.
The hanging panel that is featured on the cover of the brochure is truly such an amazing piece. It is from Central Asia, Uzbekistan, 1850-1900 and features the most incredible collection of remnants, silk ikats and printed cottons from Russia. There are 35 squares separated by borders of repeated black and brown triangles. At first I thought this was a quilt but there is no evidence of quilting, and they name it a “panel”. But it is based on the nine patch with borders and then separated by these wonderful pieced triangle strips.
This is one of those pieces that I could stand in front of indefinitely in order to absorb all the prints and weavings of the various and most beautiful pieced textiles.
Back on the street, I had to ask myself, “Did I just die and go to heaven?” Boarding the metro and being in the crunch of the rush hour commuters brought me quickly back to reality. And isn’t this why we visit museums of art we love? It gives a chance to remove ourselves from the routine of everyday living and for a brief moment in time visit another world of beauty and culture.
For more information on this exhibit as well as others, you can visit their website here. Another exhibit I would love to see that starts April 16 and runs through September 11, 2011 is “Green: the Color and the Cause”. It “will explore the techniques people have devised to create green textiles, the meanings this color has held in cultures across time and place, and the ways that contemporary textile artists and designers are responding to concerns about the environment. Textiles from the museum’s permanent collection will be complemented by the work of a selection of contemporary international artists and designers.”
