The Allen Memorial Art Museum is currently displaying an exhibition titled “Woven Treasures” that includes over 130 different textiles from Western and Central Asia. The exhibit, which will run through June 2, features 19th and 20th century work from nomadic and sedentary tribes of the Middle Eastern region where the modern nations of Turkey, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan are now located.
The varied pieces of “Woven Treasures” cover the walls of the exhibition room, surrounding a traditional nomadic home tent sitting in the center that displays textiles in the manner that they would be used in Central Asia. The tent embodies the central concept of the show, to display the textiles and educate the public about their important use in the day-to-day lives of Western and Central Asians. Each piece has a description of its use and place of origin. This focus on the cultural value of the pieces, however, does not detract from the art’s beauty and, in fact, increases the viewer’s aesthetic appreciation of the work.
Besides the tent displaying pieces in their functional setting, the exhibit contains floor rugs, wall hangings, clothes, prayer rugs, bedding, traveling bags and trappings for horses (bridle and saddle covers). There are incredibly intricate designs that decorate every piece, made up of diamond shapes, s-shapes or animals. Some pre-Islamic motifs are present as well, such as one design of the tree of life on a prayer rug. All the pieces are made of wool dyed in vivid browns, reds, oranges and blacks. Only the later pieces have any blue or green coloration because these dyes are artificial and only came into wide use in the 20th century. The most vivid piece in the collection is a 20th century mirror bag from Uzbekistan that uses some of these artificial dyes.
The complexity of the designs on the textiles is amazing, especially because some of the pieces would never have been seen while in use. One such piece is called a Yurt band and is used to support the tent structure of a nomadic home. The designs and coloration are beautiful, but the outer coverings of the tent would have hidden them almost completely from view.
The beauty of these pieces emerged from the fact that they were so much a part of the daily lives of the people from Western and Central Asia. Most of the furniture and decoration in a home for either a nomadic or sedentary tribe would have come from these textiles, but they are not only functional domestic pieces, they are gorgeous works of art.