Woven Artwork

1. Woven Artwork Weaving Cultures and Traditions

2. Weaving Cultures • American Indians – blankets and rugs • Asian – carpets and clothing • African – kente cloth • South American and Mexican – tapestries and clothing • Middle Eastern – carpets and clothing • Pacific peoples – roofs, matts, hats and clothing

3. American Indians weaving blankets • Indian weaver preparing his warp • Middle Eastern woman and children weaving a rug Egyptian slaves weaving • Indian weaver at a manual loom • Hawaiian lauhala weavings • African man weaving kente cloth

4. Many uses of weaving • Clothing • Rugs • Blankets • Tapestries • Mosquito netting (tribes in the Amazon)

5. Weaving is the textile art in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads, called the warp and the filling or weft (older woof), are interlaced with each other to form a fabric or cloth. • The manner in which the warp and filling threads interlace with each other is known as the weave. The three basic weaves are plain weave, satin weave, and twill, and the majority of woven products are created with one of these weaves.

6. Weaving History • Egyptians were weaving clothes using the flax fiber as early as 5000 BC. • Ancient Persians were weaving carpets dating back to 500 BC. • The Incas wove clothing and tapestries of fine wool in the 1400s. • Textile weaving was a dominant craft among pre-contact tribes of the American southwest, using cotton dyed with pigments, in the early 1000s. • African people from Ghana and Ivory Coast have been weaving kente cloth made of silk since 1200s. • Hawaiians and the peoples of the Pacific (Samoans, Figians, Marshall Islands) have been performing the ancient craft of luahala weaving using the leaves of the hala tree.

7. Hawaiian Lauhala Weaving • Woven from leaves of the Hala tree.

8. Navajo Woven Blankets and Rugs • Two Gray Hills" (predominantly black and white, with traditional patterns) • Teec Nos Pos" (colorful, with very extensive patterns) Ganado" (red dominated patterns with black and white)

9. Kente Cloth Symbolic meanings of the colors in Kente cloth: black -- maturation, intensified spiritual energy blue -- peacefulness, harmony and love green -- vegetation, planting, harvesting, growth, spiritual renewal gold -- royalty, wealth, high status, glory, spiritual purity grey -- healing and cleansing rituals; associated with ash maroon -- the color of mother earth; associated with healing pink -- assoc. with the female essence of life; a mild, gentle aspect of red purple -- assoc. with feminine aspects of life; usually worn by women red -- political and spiritual moods; bloodshed; sacrificial rites and death. silver -- serenity, purity, joy; assoc. with the moon white -- purification, sanctification rites and festive occasions yellow -- preciousness, royalty, wealth, fertility Asante kente is identified by its dazzling, multicolored patterns of bright colors, geometric shapes and bold designs

10. Kilims The patterns are predominantly geometric and the most common layouts on Ardabil rugs are medallions, multiple connected diamond-shaped medallions, and all-over octagonal shapes. Persian carpets Hand weaving of Persian carpets and kilims have been an important element of the tribal crafts of many of the subregions of modern day Iran.

11. An industrial jacquard loom Weaving on a cardboard loom.

12. Weaving Studio • Project Criteria: • * minimum 3 colors • * must have fringe ("rya") in at least one place • * must use the "slot box" weaving method to change colors in a single row in at least 2 sections of the weaving • * weaving must be even (not too tight, not too loose) • * entire loom must be utilized