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RAVI GALLERY
Temporary Exhibition Area of the Oriental Department,
Munich State Ethnological Museum |
ROT, BLAU und GELB
Flammtücher aus Zentralasien
24.9.2003 - 6.6.2004
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Silk flame-like fabrics from the region made up today of Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, North Afghanistan and the Chinese province of Sinkiang are highly attractive due to the aesthetic effect created by their vibrant colours. These items of textile art are closely linked with the history of the Silk Road and such cities as Samarkand and Bukhara and the landscape of Ferghana. In this cultural region, which was inhabited for centuries by Turk-speaking peoples, ikat fabrics were used to make ceremonial garments, robes of honour, women's apparel and shawls. The term ikat (which is derived from the Indonesian word mengikat, which means to "to bind, tie, or wind around") refers to a complicated dying technique in which the warp and weft, or both, are tied together in bundles and dyed before being woven into narrow lengths of cloth. Warp ikats are made solely in Central Asia, and result in distinctive patterns that are sharply delineated at the sides but blurred and more indistinct at the ends, producing a fascinating "flamed" effect. The art of ikat production in Central Asia is known as abrbandi ("bound cloud"). Polychromatic ikats are particularly laborious to make as they require repeated dyeing operations. The motifs include geometrical and plant forms, representational objects and indefinable shapes. Colourful ikat fabrics decorated with attractive patterns are part of the urban, village and nomadic scene in Central Asia to this very day.
The ikats shown in this small exhibition (robes, wall hangings and panels) are all valuable pieces stemming from the Munich State Ethnological Museum and private owners living in Munich. Documentary evidence exists on two of the cloths that proves they were collected in 1850, making them the earliest reliably datable ikats in the possession of a European museum.
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