Woven, Embroidered and Stitched in Tradition: Women’s Textile Labour in 20th Century Asia | University of Victoria Legacy Art Galleries

Feb 8 to May 24, 2020

Legacy Maltwood | at the McPherson Library – Mearns Centre, UVic campus, Room 025 and at UVic Libraries Special Collections and University Archives Room A005

This exhibition is part of a three day symposium, “Gendered Threads of Globalization: 20th Century Textile Crossings in Asia Pacific.”, March 27-29, 2020. Full symposium details here *** Please note, this Gendered Threads of Globalization Symposium was postposed.

Curated by Claire Aitken (AHVS undergrad student) with consultation by Hitomi Harama, local kimono and Japanese culture expert and Yorika Terada (AHVS undergraduate student). Project supervised by Melia Belli Bose, Associate Professor of South Asian Art History with Caroline Riedel, Curator of Collections, UVic Legacy Art Galleries.

This exhibition showcases a dazzling array of luxury textiles from the University of Victoria’s collection and on loan from private collections. These pieces, exquisitely crafted in China, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, and Bangladesh, shed light on women’s roles as makers, consumers, and connoisseurs between the late 19th century to today. This era witnessed monumental shifts in the production, accessibility, and commodification of garments globally. In the process, particularly women’s skilled textile labour was devalued. This exhibition draws attention to not only women’s heritage textiles throughout Asia, and their modern adaptations, it also closely considers their traditional makers and consumers.

Image: Gypsy Wharf-Sojan Badiar Ghat (Detail: Dulali reaching for a lotus flower).
Design by Surayia Rahman, embroidered by artisans of Arshi in Dhaka, Bangladesh, (2006). Photo courtesy of Kantha Productions LLC, (c) Maritime City Photography. Used with permission.