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Shisha embroiderer Geetaben Meriya, from Gujarat’s Kutch region, helps participants at the TRC’s recent masterclass in shisha work. Photo by Shelley AndersonOne stitch, then another stitch....I wonder what this stitch is called? Somebody said a buttonhole stitch....oh, no, I’ve forgotten how many stitches I’ve done! These were some of the thoughts running through my head at the TRC’s masterclass in shisha, on 25th September.

Shisha is embroidering with mirrors, or the stitching of other shiny substances onto garments—clothes (especially clothing for women and girls), but also wall hangings and other decorations for the home. And for small cloth hammocks for babies, as we were shown in a slide presentation at the beginning of the masterclass, organised by the Amsterdam-based Textiel Factorij, which organises exchanges between Indian and Dutch crafts people.

Our teacher for the class, embroideress Geetaben Meriya, was involved with making the beautiful baby’s cradle. She’s been doing shisha embroidery since she was 14, and lives in the village of Sumrasar, in Gujarat’s Kutch region, in western India.

A participant photographs a green front piece of a dress (TRC 2011.0036) on top of a red shawl from Tunisia (early 20th century) (TRC 2018.0276). Photograph by Christina de Korte.by Maria Linkogle and Christina de Korte, 25 September 2024. 

“It was a beautiful day!” This is how the study day on embroidery from the Middle East and North Africa on 20 September 2024 was described by one of the participants and everyone present agreed.

There group of participants included two TRC volunteers, with the TRC director Dr. Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood presenting. The size of the group made it possible to have a tailored experience in the realm of Middle Eastern and North African embroidery.

“How many different embroidery styles are there in the Middle East and North Africa?”

This was the first question posed. The answer: around 150 different embroidery types have been identified. We saw in an extensive presentation photographs of different stitches, including types of couching, chain stitch, cross stitch, satin stitch, but also of different patterns, colour combinations, materials (such as metal embroidery). In addition to the textiles and the embroidery techniques, we learned about the cultural entanglements and (historical) context in which some pieces were made and what to take into consideration when studying textiles from this area. After this introductory lecture, we had a lovely lunch and we had the opportunity to discuss what we had seen and heard.

Photograph showing remains of one of the sleeve wings associated with Tutankhamun, and the reconstruction (right), by Gillian Vogelsang and Martin Hense, of the decorative pattern.

by Ana Garcia-Casillas, 19 September 2024. Chair of the Educational Committee, Itiwana, Leiden University

How do traditional museums treat and present objects? What is the origin of the distinction between art and craftsmanship? Why have we in the last century moved away from teaching technical skills to children? These are some of the questions which were discussed during the visit of Itiwana (Leiden University's Study Association for Anthropology) to the Textile Research Centre in Leiden.

Itiwana students of anthropology at Leiden University visit the TRC, 18 September 2024.

A fictitious image of Ned Ludd, leader of the Luddites. The anti-Luddite print is dated to 1812. It shows Ned Ludd in women's clothing, indicating his opposition to 'progress'.In a blog of a few days ago I talked about the Brave New World conference, with the theme 'Indifference,' which I attended last week here in Leiden and where I gave a short presentation on the issue of 'indfference to textiles.'Since then I have been thinking about one of the questions I was asked after my talk, namely about the role of textile machines and the future of textiles and what would I do.

Oh, oh, oh, I remember thinking, how do I answer this question without sounding too much like a Luddite! And then later on I wondered whether the audience realised who and what is a Luddite?

I first learnt about Luddites in a (British) school history class when I was a young teenager (just a few years ago), and those people had stuck in the back of my mind. Basically, they were small-scale weavers in England during the early 19th century, who went around destroying the newfangled spinning and weaving machines that by that time were quickly taking away their livelihoods. They were named after a fictional weaver called Ned Ludd.

Napoleon in his imperial clothing, at his coronation in 1804. Who says that clothing and textiles do not matter?I have just attended part of a two-day conference at Naturalis (the massive, natural history museum) here in Leiden, on the theme of indifference. The conference is part of the Brave New World Art & Science series that has been running for nearly ten years.

Each year they concentrate on different themes, such as the ‘Future of Attention' (2023), in order so see how “the worlds of culture, philosophy, science, technology and storytelling will collide”.

As noted, this year’s theme was Indifference, and it covered both theoretic, philosophical, artistic, and actual themes, from empathy, medical issues, 3-D printing of cultural artifacts, to disability and handicap accessibility (or not).

Every man's dream of domestic bliss: Man smoking his pipe (while dozing), woman darning (his?) socks. Painting by Wybrand Hendriks (d.1831), Frans Halsmuseum, Haarlem.My talk of twenty minutes was about indifference to textiles, and concentrated on how textiles are an essential item to everyday life, yet often forgotten – in order to emphasise this point I asked the audience to remove their textiles, ie clothing, a request that got a mixed response! But I hope it brought home the simple fact that we all wear textiles and interact with textiles on a regular and daily basis. It's amazing to regard the number of people who ‘just’ wear clothing without thinking about the textiles what they have on and what it took to make those ‘simple’ pieces of cloth.

The themes in my talk ranged from Tutankhamun and textiles, Napoleon and his coronation textiles, the concept that textiles were ‘only’ a woman’s subject, and that many men are (or think they are) bored by the subject ( generations of farmers, spinners, dyers, weavers, printers and tailors, not to mention male embroiderers and knitters should give a collective sigh at this moment), and historic, international links on a commercial and trade level via textiles.

Through the post this morning (9 September) came an unexpected donation from Aagis van Haarst-Dierop (thank you very much for thinking of the TRC !), the mother of a former TRC volunteer, Joke Muller - van Haarst. It is a darning sampler that Aagis thought her grandmother had made in the early 20th century. She was a needlework teacher and may have made it during her teacher training course. But we suspect it may have a very different tale behind it!

Darning sampler with a wide variety of darned patterns. The initials MB are worked towards the top, while the date of 1826 is towards the lower edge. The Netherlands (?), 1826 (TRC 2024.2672).

Tunic with appliqué decoration, Jianhe Miao, China, 20th century (TRC 2024.2604).Willem and I went to Belgium the other day in order to pick up the second group of textiles and garments from Hélène van Spaendonck. Most of these garments were collected among the Maio minority ethnic group in southern China.

As noted in an earlier blog, she is downsizing and has slowly been giving part of her beloved collection of textiles and garments to various family members and museums.

The bulk of the textiles, however, she decided to give to the TRC because, as she told us, we understand the objects, we are active in preserving textile skills and knowledge and will use these objects to pass on the skills.

The fact that many people have access to the collection, directly and online, was another important reason for her to work with us.

Fig. 1. Ottoman Turkish apron, late nineteenth century (TRC 2003.0199).My blog of 9 August about an Ottoman-period apron now in the TRC Collection (Fig. 1; TRC 2003.0199), certainly ‘opened up a can of worms’, as the saying goes.

We received loads of questions: How was the bib held in place? The ties are too short! Strange shape! It is too flimsy to be useful! Even, what is an apron?

Let’s take the last question first. According to the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary an apron is: ….. (1) An article of dress, orig. of linen, worn in front of the body, to protect the clothes from dirt or injury, or simply as a covering; (2) A similar garment worn officially by bishops, deans, Freemasons, etc., 1704; (3) Anything like an apron in shape or function esp. the leather coverings for the legs in a gig etc., 1875.

Fig. 2. A triangularly shaped apron made from glass beads in various colours, which are used to create simple, geometric patterns. New Guinea, Indonesia, 1930s (TRC 2016.0998).The modern English word apron derives from the medieval English napron, which comes from the old French word naperon, and eventually from the Latin nappa, meaning a napkin.

Aprons can be made out of any material, from thick leather (such as those worn by blacksmiths) and beading (Fig. 2; TRC 2016.0998), to fine and semi-transparent cloth, in fact they can be made of anything. They can also be decorated with embroidery or printing, or be ornamentally woven.