Clothes often have a kind of language, and if a particular yellow robe now on display at The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum could speak one word, it might be “Power.” The garment, worn by a Qing dynasty emperor, is dyed a particular shade of gold that in its time and place—China in the mid-to-late 19th century—was restricted to the immediate imperial family: emperor, empress and crown prince.
Like other motifs and colors, this shade was forbidden even to lesser royals and certainly to ordinary citizens. The emperor’s absolute rule, his unassailable and singular command, was communicated not just through his policies but through the spectacle he presented. That started with his wardrobe, including this relatively simple workaday robe, which would have been worn as he studied or conducted private affairs.
The exhibition of which the robe is a part, “Enduring Traditions: Celebrating the World of Textiles,” is the second marking The Textile Museum’s centennial year and its first decade in Foggy Bottom. While the first, “Intrinsic Beauty: Celebrating the Art of Textiles,” focused on pieces collected by Textile Museum founder George Hewitt Myers, “Enduring Traditions” showcases how the collection has expanded during the 21st century, often through important donations from private collectors. It explores textiles in their collective cultural context—as status symbols, as delineators of sacred space and ceremonial time, as artistic expressions of or dedications to a community.
“Celebrating our 100th anniversary is a major opportunity to look at the way textiles have, across time and cultures, been an integral part of human life and celebration,” said curator Lee Talbot.
Each piece tells a complex story. The emperor’s yellow robe, for instance, speaks not only to the power he wanted to convey but also to the challenges he faced: the silk of which it’s composed was old even when the robe was made because the Taiping Rebellion had cut off Beijing’s access to new silk. Displayed nearby, a richly embroidered doeskin coat crafted for a Khazakh tribal leader, or khan, reflects the various currents of influence across Central Asia at the time it was made (also in the 19th century). The coat is cut Khazakh-style for ease of wear and display on horseback, since the khan's shows of power would generally take place at horse festivals and ceremonies. But it was made by Uzbek craftspeople and is adorned with Tibetan motifs. Like the imperial robe, it communicates its wearer’s authority through his access to luxury materials and elite artisans.
Students play an integral role in the life of The GW Museum and The Textile Museum—and vice versa—as it celebrates its 10th year in Foggy Bottom this year.
Some of the pieces in “Enduring Traditions” speak to spiritual rather than temporal power. A rich blue wrapper from Nigeria worn by a member of the Ekpe Society, an all-male secret society in West Africa, is tiled with esoteric symbols meaningful only to the initiated. A Malasian pua cloth, used to decorate spaces in which spirits and ancestors were called down, is marked with serpent motifs that would have been considered spiritually dangerous for an inexperienced weaver to depict; only an older woman, secure in her skill and her tradition, would have dared to make such a piece.
The show also points to the power of performance and ceremony for a community. For young people in many traditional rural societies, seasonal festivals would have been the only opportunity to meet people other than the ones they grew up with. An elaborate tunic would have been worn by a young Wodaabe man to the annual Gerewol festival, which features a marathon ritual dance through which eligible bachelors show off their skill and stamina for potential brides.
As the ongoing Gerewol festival demonstrates, these textile traditions are not restricted to the past. To demonstrate the way they still resonate in lived experience, curators reached out to members of the local community to discuss pieces they found meaningful. These voices, sometimes from the actual donors or their descendants, are included in the exhibition. Zarna Patel wore a deep-blue saree commissioned by her grandmother to her best friend’s wedding in 1970 and to her niece’s wedding in 2011 before donating it to the museum: “It is a tribute to my grandmother, who is an icon unto herself,” Patel wrote.
Finally, “Enduring Traditions” is an homage to the museum’s own history, development and community. One of the first visible objects in the show is “Congressional Constraint,” a dramatic red silk robe woven with elephants and donkeys and fringed with tassels in the shape of boxing gloves. Inspired by a similarly vibrant jacket from pre-Colombian Peru—one of the few Myers-collected objects on display—it was created by tapestry artist Jon Eric Riis for a 2015 exhibition, “Sourcing the Museum.” “Congressional Constraint” is a demonstration of The Textile Museum’s evolving story and diversifying focus.
“Myers didn’t collect ‘art’ per se; he focused on historical textiles,” Talbot said. “Now we’re showing how we move forward, how the story continues in new ways.”
