Chazen brings Chinese textiles exhibit to campus

“Writing with Thread: Traditional Textiles of Southwest Chinese Minorities” offers a visual feast of exquisite and rare costumes and jewelry from 15 ethnic groups and nearly 100 subgroups living in southwest China.

These 500 splendidly woven and embroidered textiles and costume pieces represent work of the finest quality and historic significance. Three galleries will showcase entire ensembles, baby carriers, quilt covers and silver ornaments, as well as a loom, weaving tools and embroidery cases.

The exhibition will be on view Saturday, Jan. 31–Sunday, April 12, with an opening reception from 7–8:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 30.

Southwest China is a region of rich river systems and complex topography, inhabited by 31 of the country’s 56 ethnic groups. The exhibit showcases the superb, detailed craftsmanship from ethnic groups including the Miao (Hmong), Yi, Dong, Tujia, Shui, Zhuang, Dai, Buyi, Yao, Wa and Zang. The exhibition explores the cultural messages associated with the production and use of indigenous clothing. In societies without written languages, traditions and customs are passed orally from generation to generation.

The textile arts, largely practiced by women, also provide tangible evidence of a group’s history, myths and legends. The signs and patterns woven or embroidered in their clothing are often replicated in the accompanying silver ornaments made by men. The textiles and silver ornaments complement a group’s oral traditions, recording and transmitting ideas and concepts that preserve the identities of their makers and users, and even reconstruct them for those who have lost touch. The needlework and silverwork of each ethnic group reveal variations in origin myths, heroic combats, communal memories and wish fulfillment.

Textile scholar Angela Sheng, from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, is principal curator of the exhibition. The objects have been selected from the collection of southwest Chinese textiles owned by Huang Ying-feng, an independent scholar and collector and director of the Evergrand Museum in Taoyuan, Taiwan. Both will visit the Chazen and give public talks related to the exhibition. Japanese scholar Tomoko Torimaru, who specializes in the history and technology of traditional Chinese minority textiles, will also come to the Chazen to give a two-part lecture on Miao (Hmong) textile work.

‘Writing With Thread’ events

• Thursday, Jan. 29, 5:30 p.m.:

  Lecture by Huang Ying-feng, independent scholar and collector of Chinese minority costumes, director of the Evergrand Museum in Taoyuan, Taiwan, and curatorial adviser for “Writing with Thread.” Huang introduces the ethnic minorities represented in the exhibition, then discusses collecting, documenting, and classifying pieces, and traveling and interviewing the artisans.

• Friday, Jan. 30, 6 p.m.:

  Opening reception and curator lecture. Angela Sheng, professor of Chinese art history at McMaster University, presents the curator lecture, “‘Writing with Thread’: Idea to Implementation.” The opening reception begins at 7 p.m. with Madison’s Hmong Keng Players and Hmong Sisters dance group, refreshments and a cash bar.

• Saturday Jan. 31, 1:30 p.m.:

  Textiles curator Angela Sheng and collector Huang Ying-feng will conduct a gallery walk of “Writing with Thread.”

• Sunday, March 29, 2:30 p.m.:

  Gallery tour with Mary Ann Fitzgerald, Chazen exhibition coordinator. Fitzgerald has a specialty in textiles and has traveled among the ethnic groups whose costumes are represented in the exhibition. She will lead a tour and discuss representative examples.

• Weekends, Feb. 7 through exhibition closing, 12:30–4:45 p.m.:

  Chazen docents will be available to answer questions and present minitours.

• Marion Stemmler Memorial Lectures:

  Japanese scholar Tomoko Torimaru, a specialist in the history and technology of traditional Chinese minority textiles, will deliver two lectures about Miao (Hmong) textiles, discussing materials, stitches, garment construction, symbols, and cultural history. These lectures are presented in honor of Marion Stemmler, an award-winning embroiderer and Chazen Museum of Art docent from 1984–2008. They are planned for the following dates:

  • Thursday, Feb. 19, 5:30 p.m.:

    “Environment and Material Culture: Textiles and Costumes of the Miao (Hmong) People in Guizhou, China.” Torimaru will discuss the costumes, symbolism, and everyday use, as well as how materials are made.

  • Sunday, Feb. 22, 2 p.m.:

    “One Needle, One Thread: Miao (Hmong) Embroidery and Fabric Piecework from Guizhou, China.” Torimaru will discuss embroidery, piecework, garment construction and costume symbols. Session includes an illustrated lecture, a hands-on examination of textiles from private research collections and an exhibition tour.

• Family Day

  • Saturday, March 28, 1–3 p.m.:

    Celebrate Miao (Hmong) culture with music, hands-on activity and guided tours of the exhibition. Children under 12 should be accompanied by an adult.