Stories of Syria's Textiles: Art and Heritage across Two Millennia

October 15, 2023 - January 28, 2024

Stories of Syria’s Textiles: Art and Heritage across Two Millennia highlights textiles’ outstanding contributions to Syrian culture during antiquity and the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, as well as today. The exhibition features new scholarship from archaeologists, textile conservators, art historians, and heritage professionals and draws upon the knowledge of silk producers, weavers, and other artisans. Twelve years after the conflict in Syria began in 2011, Stories of Syria’s Textiles also underscores efforts to document, preserve, and revitalize Syrian textile heritage.

In the exhibition’s first section, which focuses on the ancient cities of Dura-Europos and Palmyra, ancient textile fragments will be displayed with sculptures that depict people wearing luxurious clothing with intricate embroidery and silks from China: together, these objects evoke and attest to Syria’s role at the western edge of the Silk Routes in antiquity. The second section features clothing designed and created by skilled artisans in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. These textiles reveal the social and cultural traditions not only of elite city residents in Aleppo and Damascus, but also of desert nomads and villagers living in the Syrian countryside and mountains. 

Stories of Syria’s Textiles also aims to raise awareness of efforts to document and preserve Syrian cultural heritage, both tangible and intangible. The continuing humanitarian and refugee crises in Syria and the related destruction and looting of museum collections and archaeological sites, including Palmyra and Dura-Europos, have received worldwide attention. In the U.S. today, exhibitions on Middle Eastern art and culture play a key role in dispelling Islamophobia and persistent stereotypes about the region. The exhibition features several examples of contemporary textiles that reflect both historical traditions and the demands of new markets and tastes, as well as photographs of Syria’s silk producers that document the last phase of the Syrian silk industry before the conflict. 

Stories of Syria’s Textiles: Art and Heritage across Two Millennia is curated by Blair Fowlkes Childs, in collaboration with consulting curator Deniz Beyazit and curatorial consultant Hany Hawasly. 

For more details about upcoming events and programs, download a copy of the Fall 2023 newsletter.

 

Exhibition Images

picture for Textile with rosettes, from Dura-Europos, ca. 200–256
Textile with rosettes, from Dura-Europos, ca. 200–256 Wool; weft-faced tapestry weave, 9 × 121/2 in. (22.9 × 31.8 cm). New Haven, Yale University Art Gallery, Yale-French Excavations at Dura-Europos, 1933.487. Photograph courtesy of Yale University Art Gallery.
picture for Textile with a geometric pattern, from Dura-Europos, ca. 200–256
Textile with a geometric pattern, from Dura-Europos, ca. 200–256 Silk; weft-faced compound plain weave, 31/8× 67/8 in. (8 × 14.5 cm). New Haven, Yale University Art Gallery, Yale-French Excavations at Dura-Europos, 1933.486a. Photograph courtesy of Yale University Art Gallery.
picture for Portrait of Ambai, from Palmyra, mid-1st–mid-2nd century
Portrait of Ambai, from Palmyra, mid-1st–mid-2nd century Limestone, 19 5/8 × 15 3/4 × 9 7/8 in. (50 × 40 × 25 cm). Pittsfield, Berkshire Museum, 1903.7.4 Photograph courtesy of the Berkshire Museum.
picture for Banquet relief of Zabdibol and family, from Palmyra, second half of 2nd century (after 148)
Banquet relief of Zabdibol and family, from Palmyra, second half of 2nd century (after 148) Limestone, 20 1/4 × 25 1/8× 6 7/8 in. (51.4 × 64.6 × 17.5 cm). New York, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, 1902, 02.29.1. Photograph courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
picture for Relief sculpture with men riding camels and horses, from Palmyra, 2nd century
Relief sculpture with men riding camels and horses, from Palmyra, 2nd century Limestone, 22 3/4 × 47 1/2 × 13 1/2 in. (57.7 × 120.7 × 34.5 cm). Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund, 1970.15. Photograph courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art.
picture for Woman’s coat, probably from northern Syria, late 19th–early 20th century
Woman’s coat, probably from northern Syria, late 19th–early 20th century Cotton, silk, and glass buttons; balanced plain weave, 50 × 541/2 in. (127 × 138.4 cm). Santa Fe, Museum of International Folk Art, Gift of Florence Dibell Bartlett, A.1955.86.938. Photograph courtesy of the Museum of International Folk Art.
picture for Man’s abaya (cloak), from Aleppo or Damascus, late 19th–early 20th century
Man’s abaya (cloak), from Aleppo or Damascus, late 19th–early 20th century Silk, cotton, and metal-wrapped thread; slit-tapestry weave; plain weave, moiré; satin weave; embroidered, 491/2 × 57 in. (147.3 × 125.7 cm). New York, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Alan L. Wolfe, 1956, C.I.56.6.8. Photograph courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
picture for Man’s abaya (cloak), from Aleppo or Damascus, late 19th–early 20th century
Man’s abaya (cloak), from Aleppo or Damascus, late 19th–early 20th century Silk, metal-wrapped thread; tapestry weave, embroidered, 501/4 × 503/4 in. (127.6 × 128.9 cm). Philadelphia Museum of Art, Gift of Arthur J. Loeb and Mrs. Marguerite McBey in memory of their mother, Hortense Huntsberry Loeb, 1956, 1956-28-9. Photograph courtesy of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
picture for Tunic decoration with Alexander the hunter on horseback, probably from Syria, 7th century
Tunic decoration with Alexander the hunter on horseback, probably from Syria, 7th century Wool and linen; eccentric weft, soumak, weft-wrapping, slit-tapestry weave, 131/4 × 123/4 in. (33.5 × 32.5 cm). Washington, DC, the George Washington University Museum and the Textile Museum, acquired by George Hewitt Myers in 1948, 11.18. Photograph courtesy of the George Washington University Museum and the Textile Museum.

Featured Events

Stories of Syria's Textiles: Art and Heritage across Two Millennia | First Look

October 14, 20235:00 - 7:00 PM

Stories of Syria's Textiles: Art and Heritage across Two Millennia | Member Preview

October 15, 202312:00 - 2:00 PM

Stories of Syria's Textiles: Art and Heritage across Two Millennia | Public Opening

October 15, 20232:00 - 5:00 PM

Creative Community Fridays: Stroller Tours

October 20, 20239:30 - 10:30 AM
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Exhibition Catalogue

Stories of Syria's Textiles: Art and Heritage across Two Millennia The exhibition will be accompanied by a fully-illustrated catalogue co-published by the KMA and Scala Art and Heritage Publishers featuring contributions by Maya Alkateb-Chami, Blair Fowlkes Childs, Deniz Beyazit, Lisa Brody, Julia Carlson, Martina Ferrari, Rania Kataf, and Janina Poskrobko-Streciwilk. This beautifully illustrated volume highlights the vibrant history and culture of Syria through its exceptional textile production. By presenting a broad range of textiles, created between the 2nd century to the present day, the accessible text reveals Syria’s central role in the development of global art and commerce, and more broadly, the significance of textiles as a form of material culture that reveals complex socio-political narratives. Published twelve years after the conflict in Syria began in 2011, this book underscores efforts to document, preserve, and revitalize Syrian cultural heritage, both tangible and intangible. Its examination presents new scholarship commissioned from leading archaeologists, textile conservators, art historians, and heritage professionals, and drawn from the knowledge of silk producers, weavers, and other artisans. With exquisite design and an approachable narrative, this thoughtful publication provides a valuable immersive and educational experience to arts professionals, connoisseurs, and the general public.

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Fall 2023 KMA Newsletter

For more details about upcoming events and programs, download a copy of the Fall 2023 newsletter.

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Exhibition Support

Stories of Syria’s Textiles: Art and Heritage across Two Millennia and its accompanying catalogue were realized with generous funding from the Coby Foundation and the Nazmiyal Collection. Additional support has been provided by the Barakat Trust, the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz, and the Director’s Circle of the Katonah Museum of Art: Mike Davies, Isabelle Harnoncourt Feigen, Vida Foubister, Nisa Geller, Virginia L. Gold, Linda Nordberg, Amy Parsons, Yvonne S. Pollack, Rochelle C. Rosenberg, Rebecca Samberg, and Richard and Audrey Zinman.

 

 

 


The Katonah Museum of Art is proud to be a grantee of ArtsWestchester with funding made possible by Westchester County government with the support of County Executive George Latimer. The Katonah Museum of Art’s programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
 

 




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Credits

Textile with rosettes, from Dura-Europos, ca. 200–256. Wool; weft-faced tapestry weave, 9 × 12 ½ in. (22.9 × 31.8 cm). New Haven, Yale University Art Gallery, Yale-French Excavations at Dura-Europos, 1933.487. Photo: Courtesy of Yale University Art Gallery.

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