Perry May1
Surname 4
Perry May
Professor Wagner
Art Appreciation
November 8, 2024
Proposal and Bibliography
Threads of the Divine: Sacred Textiles Across Cultures
This exhibit, Threads of the Divine: Sacred Textiles Across Cultures will display three religious art pieces as follows: Goddess Hera Embroidery from Greece, dating 6th century BCE, The Hmong Shaman’s Healing Cloth from Laos, and 20th century Hmong, and the final piece-Darshani Stree Craft, the Indian Pichwai of Lord Krishna from India, 18th century. Each of the pieces describes how textiles can perform functions that signify spiritual, cultural and aesthetic qualities. All beneath one roof, these textiles will allow viewers to contemplate the role of fabric in worship, as well as how people of different cultures regard it as the connecting point between themselves and the divine. A combination of intricate embroidery, vibrant dyed colors, and contextual symbolism will be incorporated within the context of the exhibit to demonstrate the manner in which texts denote not only personal and communal faith. When compared and discussed simultaneously, audiences shall be in a position to appreciate the extend in which textiles have been central in provision of spirituality and people’s identities across different regions of the world.
Bibliography
Clementz, Marit, and Ingvild Forbord. Stories of the Goddess: Hidden and Forgotten Treasures in Myths and Folktales. Indiemoon, 2024.
Looking at goddesses in different myths and folk stories, trying also to emphasize more minor or completely forgotten archetypes. It gives a psychological perception about how various cultures represent God in artworks and icons and how they incorporate symbols such as textiles to commemorate the deities. This source assists in understanding the position of the religious and cultural aspects of the art works in the form of textiles in the exhibition, especially the Goddess Hera embroidery.
Magliveras, Simeon S. “Hmong Textiles, Symmetries, Perception, and Culture.” Symmetry, vol. 12, no. 11, 2020, pp. 1829.
In this scholarly article, there is the interpretation of complex patterns and cultural significance within Hmong textiles, with particular emphasis on the Hmong’s view of the world. This offers good context for the importance of the pattern and symbolism of the textiles made by the Hmong people, in particular the Healing Cloth of the Hmong Shaman.
Yadav, Priyanka, Ramratan Guru, and Ushma Saini. “Pichwai: The Tapestry Art of Nathdwara.” Shodh Drishti.
This article surveys the past of one of the most distressed types of Indian textiles, called Pichwai, which presents devotees to the worship of Lord Krishna. The religious, cultural, and spiritual aspects of Pichwai art as used in temples and in the houses of Hindus are also given. This source is relevant for interpreting the use of textiles in Hindu worship, for it describes the characteristics of Pichwai paintings and their significance both in devotion and as ritual artifacts, making it useful when explaining the Indian Pichwai of Lord Krishna in the exhibit.
