#relacoespublicas #rp #rpmoda #pr #publicrelations » 2013 Agosto 27 » Three Centuries of Worldwide Textile Trade
16:28 Three Centuries of Worldwide Textile Trade | |
Interwoven Globe: The Worldwide Textile Trade, 1500-1800
is the first major exhibition to explore the international transmittal
of design from the 16th to the early 19th century through the medium of
textiles. It will highlight an important design story that has never
before been told from a truly global perspective. Beginning in the 16th
century, the golden age of European maritime navigation in search of
spice routes to the east brought about the flowering of an abundant
textile trade, causing a breathtaking variety of textiles in a
multiplicity of designs and techniques to travel across the globe.
Textiles, which often acted as direct currency for spices and other
goods, made their way from India and Asia to Europe, between India and
Asia and Southeast Asia, from Europe to the east, and eventually to the
west to North and South America. Trade textiles blended the traditional
designs, skills, and tastes of all of the cultures that produced them,
resulting in objects that are both intrinsically beautiful and
historically fascinating. The exhibition is made possible by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation,
the Diane W. and James E. Burke Fund, The Coby Foundation, Ltd., The
Favrot Fund, the Gail and Parker Gilbert Fund, and the Quinque
Foundation. While previous studies have focused on this story from the viewpoint of trade, Interwoven Globe is the first exhibition to explore it as a history of design—and to approach it from a perspective that emphasizes the beauty and sophistication of these often overlooked objects. It will explore the interrelationship of textiles, commerce, and taste from the Age of Discovery to the 19th century. From India and its renowned, ancient mastery of painted and dyed cotton to the sumptuous silks of China and Japan, Turkey and Iran, the paths of influence are traced westward to Europe and the Americas. Shaped by an emerging worldwide visual culture, the resulting fashion for the "exotic” in textiles, as well as in other goods and art forms, gave rise to what can be recognized as the first truly global style. Interwoven Globe will feature 134 works,
about two-thirds of which are drawn from the Metropolitan Museum’s own
rich, encyclopedic collection. These objects will be augmented by
important domestic and international loans in order to make worldwide
visual connections. Works from the Metropolitan will come from the
following departments: American Decorative Arts, Asian Art, Islamic Art,
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts, The Costume Institute, European
Paintings, Drawings and Prints, and Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the
Americas. They will include numerous flat textiles (lengths of fabric,
curtains, wall hangings, bedcovers,) tapestries, costumes, church
vestments, pieces of seating furniture, and paintings and drawings. The exhibition will be divided into nine galleries, some organized by
geography and others by theme. It will begin with the Portuguese
maritime expansion and the new textile trade they developed with China
and India. Portuguese merchants recognized the superior skills of the
Chinese and Indian textile workers and introduced them to European
imagery so that they could create products that could be sold to a
European market. In addition to Portugal, Spain was one of the first European nations to master the ability to navigate the Atlantic Ocean and colonize the New World. By the 16th century, Spain controlled vast areas of South America. Works in this section will include tapestries made with traditional Andean materials and techniques, and will demonstrate South America as a rich source of natural dyes that were also traded around the world. The exhibition will then move to Chinese production for East and West
and the Japanese taste for imported textiles, and will feature the
types of luxurious embroidered hangings and bedcovers that wealthy
Europeans coveted. Indian textiles will be represented by spectacular
17th– and 18th–century painted and dyed cotton bedcovers and hangings
called palampores. Colorful and dyefast Indian cottons became
so popular in Europe that in England and France, fearing that the
imports would damage domestic production, Indian fabrics were barred
from domestic importation during the early 18th century and printed
imitations began to be produced instead. Luxurious textiles were always prized by the elites of the Catholic
Church and were used in other religious settings as well. A section
devoted to trade textiles in religious contexts will show the various
types—European, Ottoman, Indian, Chinese—used to create an impressive
aura of ecclesiastical authority and enrich the material culture of
religious practices. By the end of the 17th century, European trade routes with Asia,
Africa, and the Americas were well established, allowing information
about other cultures—scant or inaccurate—to circulate, stimulating an
intense interest in the "exotic.” To demonstrate these visions of the
"exotic” in imagery and attire, a fine silk carpet with unusual features
from the Metropolitan’s collection will be on display. Recently
attributed to 17th century Iran, the carpet confounded scholars for
years who dated it from 16th century originating from Iran to India to
Istanbul, with sources of inspiration from English to Flemish tapestry. By the mid-18th century, Europe’s powerful leaders had greatly expanded and enriched their empires through conquest and trade. European self-perception is elegantly captured in a set of French tapestries and tapestry-covered furniture made at Beauvais for Louis XVI depicting the Four Continents; the complete set will be seen together for the first time in Interwoven Globe in a room-like setting. Textiles and cultural conflict will be examined in a section on the
brutal effects of the expansion of European colonial empires from 1500
to 1800. Textiles played a key role in the slave trade as cloth was one
of the key commodities traded for slaves in Africa. The exhibition will conclude with a gallery devoted to colonial North
America, examining textiles imported from India and China, as well as
those made in the colonies that were inspired by Asian models. North
Americans were prevented from trading directly with Asia until the 1780s
and before that textiles had to be acquired through European middlemen.
Despite this limitation, Asian textiles were an important trade
commodity and a significant source of inspiration for the design of
North American domestic interiors and locally made textiles as early as
the 17th century. Many of the textiles that will be on display in Interwoven Globe
have rarely or never been on public view, usually due to their
cross-cultural nature, which make them a challenge to fit comfortably in
the permanent galleries of a single curatorial department. The
exhibition will provide a unique opportunity to examine the beauty and
sophistication of these objects from around the world and engage
visitors who are interested in a wide range of topics, such as fashion,
textile production, technology, history, and design. A variety of education programs will accompany the exhibition. These
include a series of exhibition tours as well as thematic talks led by
curators, guest specialists, and designers; programs for people with
disabilities, including workshops for children and adults with learning
and developmental disabilities and visual impairments; artist
demonstrations on November 8; studio workshops on October 6, 13, and 20;
and a symposium on Oct. 4. For more information about the exhibition and its accompanying programs, visit the Museum’s website at www.metmuseum.org.
 by Metropolitan Museum | |
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