As my first full draft of my book “Threads Around the World: From Arabian Weaving to Batik in Zimbabwe” neared completion, I started thinking of a second volume. I told myself that if the book was well received I’d write a second book.
The stories behind traditional textiles expose our commonalities—we have too much in common with each other to be divided into us and them, to be regarded as more or less. Stories allow us to acknowledge the person in each other.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CA%BBAhu_%CA%BBula Feather boas, feathers decorating Mardi Gras masks, peacock feathers in vases, ostrich feathers embellishing hats, but an entire cloak made of feathers? That was new to me. I had to investigate further. Since Polynesia lacked precious metals or gemstones, the Polynesians came to treasure natural materials such as feathers. Featherwork garments were worn (usually … Read more
I’ve always been intrigued by the ‘stans—Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Growing up, the names fascinated me. According to World Atlas, the suffix “stan” is an ancient Persian or Farsi word meaning country, nation, or land of. As an adult, I was intrigued by them as homes of a wealth of textile techniques—stunning … Read more
As I weave, I breathe life into a textile, and when I free it from the loom a textile is born to take its place in the world. The Berber of the Middle Atlas of Morocco also see weaving as a metaphor for creating an entity with an essence of its own. But to the … Read more