Kashmir Shawls - A Collector's Perspective
Tuesday 11 October 2022 6-7 PM, EDT
David
Reisbord, retired neurologist presents his Kashmir shawl collection.
This event will consist of an edited recording of a presentation made
for the Textile Museum Associates of Southern California's annual
Patron visit and reception, which was a virtual collections visit in
2020. The presentation will focus on how David uses precisely dated
paintings by European artists to date his pieces. We will also see a
'Show and Tell' of some of David's treasures in conversation with
Clarissa M. Esguerra, Associate Curator of Costume and Textiles at Los
Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA).

Summer Summary
Tuesday 13 September 2022 6-7 PM, EDT
Let us catch up and share textile experiences that we had this Summer. Karthika will share highlights of the exhibition Kimono Style: The John C. Weber Collection at the Metropolitan Museum. You are invited to share your experiences too. Please write to: karthika@audinet.net

Kantha Quilts from Bengal: Simple Stitches to Rich Tradition
Tuesday, 31 May 2022, 6-7 PM EDT
Jeevak Parpia is a Professor of Physics at Cornell University. Banoo Parpia has recently retired as Director of Alumni affairs and Development for Asia at Cornell University.
Their
joint interest in Indian textiles evolved in the late 1980s. They have
exhibited examples from their collection at several shows at the Johnson
Museum at Cornell University, Mount Holyoke College, the Art Institute in Chicago and Royal Museum of Ontario.
This presentation will draw on examples from their collection.
Pichvais: Divine Textile Hangings of India
Tuesday, 10 May 2022, 6-7 PM EDT
Dr. Madhuvanti Ghose
is the Alsdorf Associate Curator of Indian, Southeast Asian, and
Himalayan Art, Arts of Asia, at the Art Institute of Chicago. She has curated numerous exhibitions including Gates of the Lord: The Tradition of Krishna Paintings (2015-2016).
Pichvais
are a unique genre of Indian painting on cloth, associated with the
Pushtimarg sect that venerates the Hindu god Krishna as Shrinathji. It
has been preserved by the hereditary artists of the temple town of
Nathdwara, in Rajasthan, in an
unbroken legacy for more than four centuries.
Painting by Jatin Sharma
Karthika Audinet, textile designer and professor presents Up-Close, Ikat in South India, 19 April 2022
Ikat is a pre-loom process which involves patterning by tying and dyeing warp, weft or both. Karthika has been studying the ikat weaving traditions in villages in South India since 2009. In this talk she will share Sights, Sounds and Glimpses of a recent trip in February 2022 to Koyyalagudem. Highlights: design, innovation and mastery of skills.

Photo: Sari, natural dye silk ikat in Marigold & Jasmine, Indigo, Sappanwood, Madder, Acacia, Alkanet, Bhringaraj (Eclipta Prostrata) Artisan: Shankar, photo: Karthika Audinet

3 embroideries, 3 experts, November 16, 2021
Khamak embroidery from Kandahar, Phulkari from Punjab, and Suf from Gujarat. Three experts, Mary Littrell, Cristin McKnight Sethi & Judy Frater
will tell us about these embroideries from Afghanistan and northwest
India. To the lay person, all three use satin stitch. Is there more to
these embroideries than meets the eye? Our guest speakers will discuss similarities and differences, along with
images of the embroideries, authentic pieces, the women who embroider
and social contexts. Rangina
Hamidi and Mary Littrell co-authored the book, Embroidering within
Boundaries, Cristin McKnight Sethi is contributing author of Phulkari:
The Embroidered Textiles of Punjab from the Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz
Collection, and Judy Frater is the author of Threads of Identity:
Embroidery and Adornment of the Nomadic Rabaris.
Photos: Mary Littrell, The George Washington University and The Textile Museum # 1985.33.24, Judy Frater
Catharine Ellis, April 20 2021
The Making of The Art and Science of Natural Dyes
The Art and Science of Natural Dyes is the #1 book on natural dyes. Catharine Ellis, textile artist and practitioner will share a unique perspective on how she went about writing the book with textile engineer and chemist, Joy Boutrup

Catharine Ellis has been a weaver and a dyer for over 40 years. After three decades of teaching the Fiber Program at Haywood Community College in NC she is now dedicated to studio work, focusing on natural dye processes. She also does specialized, selected teaching, in the U.S. and internationally.
Dr. Jeffrey C. Splitstoser, January 17, 2021


The Preceramic site of Huaca Prieta on the north coast of present-day Peru has been famous since the late 1940s for producing some of the world's earliest cotton textiles, which were decorated with complex colorful designs. Blue is present among even the earliest fabrics, but its source remained elusive until recently when indigo was detected in a 6,200-years-old striped fabric from the site. This discovery marked the earliest known use of indigo in the world.
In this presentation, Dr. Splitstoser will talk about the site of Huaca Prieta and its textiles, including a discussion about how the fabrics were excavated, how they survived over six-thousand years, their conservation, and how their structures, designs and pigments were analyzed. He is the textile specialist for the Huaca Prieta Archaeological Project (directed by Dr. Tom Dillehay), that led to this discovery.
Dr. Splitstoser is Assistant Research Professor of Anthropology at George Washington University, Washington, D.C ; research associate of the Institute of Andean Studies, Berkeley, and a Cosmos Club scholar. He is also VP of the Boundary End Center, an archaeology research facility and retreat in western North Carolina, and an editor of its two peer-reviewed journals, Ancient America and the Research Reports on Ancient Maya Writing. He has studied Andean textiles for over 20 years. His Ph.D. dissertation is a study of the Paracas textiles (ca. 850‒300 BCE) from Cerrillos, Ica Valley, Peru. An authority on khipus-colored-and-knotted-string devices that allowed Andean people to record information without writing, he co-curated the exhibition, "Written in Knots: Undeciphered Records of Andean Life" April 2019, Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, D.C.
Thomas Murray, November 7th 2020
"Repurposed Cloth, Meaning Changes with Context"
Description
Thomas
Murray will discuss the onward journey of three varieties of repurposed
cloth from Japan. Topics will include Japanese Boro patchwork
aesthetics, Ainu use of trade cotton and kimono fragments in their
robes, and the creative inspiration that comes from collecting Okinawan
bingata sample fragments.
Thomas Murray is an independent
researcher, collector, lecturer and private dealer of Asian and Tribal
art, with an emphasis on Indonesian sculpture and textiles, as well as
animistic art from other varied cultures. He also features Indian Trade
Cloths from the 14th-18th Centuries. He has placed objects in more than
30 museums on four continents.
A HALI magazine Contributing Editor
for the last 30 years, Tom serves as their "in-house" expert on all
tribal sculpture and textiles, with more than 50 publications. He has
lectured widely, including "Ottoman Influences on Islamic Calligraphic
Batik from Indonesia," "Lampung Imagery, Textile Iconography of South
Sumatra," and "Considering a Nias Ancestor Sculpture". His most recent
books, "Textiles of Japan and "Rarities - the Himalayas to Hawaii" were
met with critical acclaim. Thomas Murray is past President of ATADA,
The Antique Tribal Art Dealers Association and served a three-year term
as a member of President Obama's Cultural Property Advisory Committee at
the State Department. Thomas Murray continues to consult with museums
and private clients all over the world.
See: www.tmurrayarts.com to know more about Tom, his books, textiles and more.
Karthika Audinet, Saturday October 17, 2020
PechaKucha on crafting high-end textiles with adults with disabilities
Textile Society of America, Annual Symposium: https://textilesocietyofamerica.org