Sometimes a big bombastic title like this really isn’t necessary. This is the name of an Exhibit at LACMA. Although they think that everyone is running to see all the contemporary art shows they have – really, textiles, crafts or Arts and Crafts movements attract visitors on their own.
Btw, there is confusion about how to pronounce Ikat, it’s e-cot. Not I-cat, e-cat. I know this because over 30 years ago I saw a similar exhibit at the Museum of Islamic Art in Jerusalem.
As I was walking through this exhibit, a docent announced that she would be giving a tour. Of course I hung around to hear what she had to say. She was quite surprised that I had seen a similar exhibit so long ago. That is because Israel really is the center of the world, plenty of Jews came from central Asia and many brought these kind of garments with them. Or at least the knowledge of them. On a similar note, around the same time I learned of the Mexican Day of the Dead, at a time when few in Mexico knew about it. That is because art historians in Israel were actually interested in what was going on in small remote villages in Mexico.
Back to Ikat. This style of resist dye fabrics is very popular through out Asia. The technique moved along the silk road, probably moving from east to west. In Central Asia the warp threads (the colorful ones) are silk while the weft is a very fine cotton. Unlike Batik that is dyed after the fabric is woven, in Ikat, usually the warp threads are tied and dyed, then warped on the loom and woven. The shifting of the threads is what gives the prints that sort of hazy jagged look.
There are other methods, weft dying and double dying. But since there are no examples here, I won’t bore you with those details. Suffice it to say, these are incredible as is. Do you see the white line running through? I don’t think it’s a mistake, because it shows up often, somehow it must have something to do with the tying process that prevents the dyes from penetration.
This collection is from the mid 19th century onward. There had to have been a long tradition of this craft before that. But textiles don’t last very well. Also, by the mid 19th century they would still be using some natural dyes like indigo (the light blue) but synthetic dyes were now available and much brighter as well as colorfast. These are luxury items, worn in layers on special occasions as well as given as diplomatic gifts.
Two important things in this picture. On the right, we have the dyed warp threads. For some reason this was never woven into cloth, so it is very cool to see it here as part of the process. The second is on the fabric itself, I can pick out the repeat very easily. The designer would mark the pattern on taut threads, then workers would tie off all the areas that wouldn’t get the first dye color. Once dyed and returned, the warp would be stretch again, and the next areas would be tied. Often many warps would be dyed the same, either for the same garment, or simply because it was popular. By having the patterns repeat, it was easier for the tiers, also, it allowed fabrics to be seamed together, with a reasonable degree of pattern matching.
It is unusual to see so much white. I think the more the fabric was decorated, the more value it has. At most there would be 8 colors including white, that is very labor intensive. Which once again goes to show, that before industrialization, textiles really were luxury items. Both men and women wore these kirtles, later we will see a style that was only worn by women.
These panels were either made into garments or as curtains or room dividers. In this case, probably as part of a dowry, a girl added a lot of embroidery on top of the Ikat. Central Asia isn’t very pretty, grey brown landscapes. So the beauty had to be man made. In mosaics on the exterior of buildings, to these vibrant textiles.
Have you noticed those white lines that run through many of the prints. I’m just guessing here, but I think that there were some permanent ties that were never removed, most probably between repeats. Think about it, after each dye bath, ties are removed and new ones are put in. If everything is untied, then you end up with quite a mess, leaving certain areas permanently tied keeps the bundles together.
I don’t see that line everywhere, which means that some workshops took more time and effort than others. When the Soviets took over this region, they demanded uniformity. There were certain designs that were allowed for a tiny amount of ethnic pride, but no more small family run workshops. Ikat moved into factories and lost a lot of it’s unique beauty. With the fall of communism in the late 1980s’ this trend reversed. Today there are small workshops again, but it will never repeat the heyday of the mid 19th century.
The Ikat was combined with other needle crafts. I love all the colors and the textures. Could I wear all of these in one outfit. Probably not, to western eyes this looks garish. On the tour there were two French women who loved the color, but wanted it separated out. In other words, they could see wearing one of the calmer robes over solid black. And that is what is so wonderful about seeing how different cultures react to pattern and color.
I have more pictures, but I’ll be splitting this into two posts.
Leah