February 23 through May 30, 2005

The ASU Museum of Anthropology is proud to offer Loom-inous Creations: Textile Traditions from Southeast Asia. This exhibit features a stunning array of over 100 handwoven textiles from Indonesia, Thailand, Laos and Viet Nam.

The textiles on display demonstrate a wide range of techniques and motifs, and often tell stories about the places in which they were made. Many were created to celebrate important life events, such as weddings and funerals. Certain of the more elaborate pieces were only worn by unmarried women. Yet other pieces were exchanged on special occasions in order to cement the bonds between families. The patterns of still others would indicate the wearer’s status or the village from which he or she came.

Thomas J. Hudak, ASU Professor of Linguistics and an expert in the Thai and Indonesian languages, began his remarkable collection in the 1970s while conducting research in Southeast Asia.

This exhibition has been made possible with the generous support of the ASU Department of Anthropology, the Center for Asian Studies, the Program for Southeast Asian Studies, the School of Design and the School of Art.

From the exhibition:

The countries of Southeast Asia have a rich tradition of textiles—textiles noted for their beauty, their utility, and their ceremonial use and meaning. From Thailand to Laos to Indonesia to Viet Nam, nearly all weaving is done by women, who pass on the traditions of weaving to their daughters. One can enter any village and see women on their porches or under their houses, weaving on frame or back-tension looms.

Traditional designs with symbolic meanings continue to be employed, even with the pressure of globalization to abandon these traditions. In many cases, this symbolism still remains to be explored and explained today.

Textiles have both a utilitarian and ceremonial use. Utilitarian cloth can be found in women’s skirts and men’s loincloths, in multi-purpose blankets, sheets, pillow covers, mattresses, purses, head wraps, shawls and shoulder cloths.

More elaborate textiles, some embellished with gold threads, are only seen at ceremonial rites of passage, such as weddings, funerals, and circumcisions. Textiles often play an important role during rituals: woven cloths may be buried with the deceased at funerals or used to affirm family and lineage relationships in marriages.

Thailand and Laos are famous for their silks and cottons. In Indonesia, numerous islands produce cloth using a special process called ikat, which allows the design to dyed on the yarns before weaving. Indonesia is also famous for its batik, a process in which wax is applied to sections that are not to be dyed.

We hope that visitors to this exhibition walk away with an appreciation of these textiles and a deeper understanding of the rich and varied cultural traditions of weaving.