Embroidered Tales and Woven Dreams

Embroidered Tales and Woven Dreams is a free exhibition at the Brunei Gallery at the School of Oriental and Asian Studies (SOAS), on until 25 March 2017.

Many of the people living on the Silk Road have had to move and resettle either for political or economic regions, but they took their traditions, in particular their textile skills, with them.  Passed down from mother to daughter, they are records of social customs and folk tales, but also representations of identity.  This is an exhibition that tells some of that history.

This embroidery (above) is apparently typical of Afghanistan but there are also pieces from areas bordering the Indus, Yemen, Turcoman, Sogdiana and the Near East.  There are some absolutely stunning Indian embroideries and some beautiful lengths of presumably silk cloth.  My time was limited so I only took a couple of photos (with permission), but I will definitely return for a much longer look.

The Brunei Gallery is open Tuesday to Saturday 10.30am to 5pm (late nights on Thursdays until 8pm) but closed Sundays, Mondays and Bank Holidays.  It can be found in Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London, WC1H 0XG.  There are a number of (free) public lectures by some internationally renowned speakers - see the gallery website for details.

Indigenous Australia: enduring civilisation

This exhibition does have not much in the way of textile work - not surprising as the culture of indigenous Australia has no tradition of cloth making.  From what I understand, clothing is either from animal skins or in the form of body adornments and decorations.  However this exhibition does include some weaving in the form of basketwork. It is an interesting exhibition, beautifully displayed and informative, but also controversial.

This exhibition is an opportunity to learn about cultures very different from Western society. The narrative itself appears fairly comprehensive, starting with information about the landscape and its importance to the indigenous people. Artefacts are used to explain traditions and ideas that are culturally important, and I was pleased to discover that an Indigenous Tasmanian was the curator. The exhibition also touched on controversial topics relating to colonialism and post-colonialism, although not in any depth.  The exhibition has sparked a debate on repatriation.

The very last item in the exhibition was a basket woven by Abe Muriata, an indigenous Australian who learnt from watching his grandmother weave as a child, but also by examining historic items in a museum to understand traditional techniques.  The question the visitor seemed to be left with was that without museums displaying such objects, would these techniques have been lost?  Without such displays would we have any understanding of other cultures?  

The exhibition continues until 2 August 2015 at the British Museum, London.