I had a good time at the Textile Museum.
It's a small museum and seems to have rotating exhibits based upon its collection, but there were cool examples such as this Peruvian piece from the 15-16th c. It is made of feathers! How cool, huh?
Yup, that's me peering through a magnifying glass (provided by the museum) at a piece from the Greek Isles/Crete embroidery exhibit. Such detail! There were so many other cool pieces. Like us, I imagine the textile artists who created these spending so much time and effort to create these pices of beauty--often serving functional, everyday uses and not given a second thought to it. Once upon a time, your sewing or embroidery skills were prized. It was something to be passed down. These traditions are being lost as new generations don't even know how to thread a needle in this disposable society.
We have to keep these traditions alive...
3 comments:
I loved the Textile Museum last time I was in DC. (1998). Dragged my spouse there one morning.. and stood next to Letitia Baldridge at the stop light a block away. (Steve did not even know who she was!!!) She was perfectly dressed and such ramrod posture!! It's my most distinct memory of the trip.
It is a treasure that the city should be proud of.
At least quilting is being passed along. Thousands of children in schools across the country have been exposed to it in the classroom, in scouting, and after school programs. A lot of quilters I know are teaching their grandchildren, skipping a generation, a many things do.
This is a place I'll have to investigate next time I visit the capital.
What an inspiring exhibit! Makes me want to take up dying (as if I need another obsession to fill my days)
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