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Join us for an exploration of the motifs and history of the 18th-century textile trade in celebration of our special exhibition Paradise on Earth: Florals in Indian Textiles. Melinda Watt, Chair and Christa C. Mayer Thurman Curator of the Textile Department at the Art Institute of Chicago, will illuminate the history, artistry, and global implications of the Indian textile trade. FREE with Registration
Schedule:
1:00–1:45 p.m., Musical performance by Dr. Amie Maciszewski, Sangeet Millennium, Horchow Auditorium
2:00–3:00 p.m., Lecture, Horchow Auditorium
Decorative textiles preserve and display flora and fauna as the artist and designer have captured them, and they serve to reveal nature at its best, accessible at any time of year and in any weather. Each element is at its most beautiful—when the irises, poppies, and narcissus are at their peak and the birds are perfectly still, the deer and goats and sacred cows are in comfortable repose, and the weather is pleasant. Illustrated with outstanding examples of historical and modern textiles from the Indian subcontinent, this lecture will explore textiles in a variety of techniques, including weaving, embroidery, kalamkari, and block printing, and how natural imagery is an intrinsic part of the Indian textile lexicon.
Not only are patterns, motifs, and themes based on flora and fauna, but the very making of textiles demands respect for and knowledge of natural resources. The methodology and techniques of makers on the subcontinent have been a source of great admiration and frustration to outsiders. The era of the intense Western trading company’s exploration and exploitation of India’s wealth also brought along curious scientists and manufacturers who sought to learn and reproduce fabrics such as the bold floral kalamkari and chintzes. For the most part, these explorers were thwarted by the differences in systems of knowledge transfer and recording. Thousands of years of intrinsic and inherited knowledge was not readily extracted and interpreted.
While textiles are only part of the story of Indian makers' and consumers’ relationship with the natural world, in a culture where cloth was and is still respected, even revered, as one of the highest expressions of cultural achievement, the design and making of cloth is an appropriate lens through which to consider this theme.
This series is supported by the Boshell Family Foundation and the DMA’s Boshell Lecture Series Endowment Fund.
To request accessibility accommodations such as ASL interpretation, gallery stools, or wheelchairs, please send an email to [email protected].
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Event venue
1717 N Harwood St, Dallas, TX, United States, Texas 75201
Tickets
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