Islamicate Textiles

Textiles and clothing are interwoven with Islamic culture. In Islamicate Textiles, readers are taken on a journey from Central Asia to Tanzania to uncover the central roles that textiles play within Muslim-majority communities. This thematically arranged book sheds light on the traditions, rituals and religious practices of these regions, and the ways in which each one incorporates materials and clothing. Drawing on examples including Iranian lion carpets and Arabic keffiyeh, Faegheh Shirazi frames these textiles and totemic items as important cultural signifiers that, together, form a dynamic and fascinating material culture. Like a developing language, this culture expands, bends and develops to suit the needs of new generations and groups across the world. The political significance of Islamicate textiles is also explored: Faegheh Shirazi's writing reveals the fraught relationship between the East – with its sought-after materials and much-valued textiles – and the European countries that purchased and repurposed these goods, and lays bare the historical and contemporary connections between textiles, colonialism, immigration and economics. Dr Shirazi also discusses gender and how textiles and clothing are intimately linked with sexuality and gender identity.

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"Excellent . . . as colorful and as full of joie de vivre as a room full of Matisse paintings." --The World of Interiors

A remarkable collection of textiles made in Islamic lands and traded along the Silk Road, most of which are published here for the first time. The al-Sabah Collection, Kuwait, holds a spectacular array of ancient textiles created in Islamic lands, mostly from the ninth to the fifteenth centuries, and traded along the Silk Road, the network of ancient trade routes that linked China, Central Asia, and Byzantium for more than 1,500 years. This fascinating volume presents these Islamic pieces along with a selection of predominantly Chinese textiles dating from the Han period (25–220 CE) to the Yuan period (thirteenth– fourteenth century CE). This collection, which has remained largely unpublished until now, is a rich source of information, not only for the history of textiles, but also for the history of the Silk Road itself. Together, the exceptional beauty and variety of the garments and textile fragments reflect the many strands of influence along the Silk Road. New scientific analysis has enabled a number of these textiles to be dated with precision for the first time, making them an especially valuable scholarly resource. Early Islamic Textiles from Along the Silk Road displays an astonishing range of textile motifs, patterns, and calligraphic designs. A selection of rare intact garments vividly evokes the lives of merchants, pilgrims, and travelers, as well as the inhabitants of countries linked by the Silk Road, making this a one-of-a-kind resource.

The interpretation of the main Islamic rules for women's dress vary from country to country and are subject to cultural circumstances and individual styles. For example, Muslim women in Northern Africa and the Middle East dress very differently from those in Pakistan and Southeast Asia. The basic tenet in Islam that tells people to dress modestly, particularly in public, does not mean that Muslim women are not stylish. There has always been an great interest in beautiful fabrics and well-made clothes in the Islamic World and decorative crafts such as embroidery, passementerie, silk weaving and the like are very regarded. Nowadays, Muslimahs the world over shop for the latest fashions and are highly creative in dressing trendy, elegantly and hijab at the same time. Islamic Fashion contains an extensive overview of dress from several Muslim regions and many pictures of modern Islamic fashion. Also included are photographs and drawings of embroidered, printed and woven decorative elements. A wide selection of these images is saved on the enclosed CD.

"The exceptional collection published here ranges widely in region, material and technique. There are textiles and garments from North Africa, Syria, Arabia, Iran, Turkey and the Indian subcontinent linked by a shared vocabulary of ornament - evidence of the international nature of Islamic design. Materials represented are silk - the most prestigious of fibres, requiring highly respected weavers - wool, cotton and linen. Decoration is based on variations of weave and colour and embellishment through embroidery, printing and appliqué and illustrates the work of both professional and domestic workers. The strengths of the collection are concentrated in the textile production of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, which, thanks to the basically conservative nature of textile technique and design, preserve and continue the traditions established in the medieval Islamic world. They are important in an assessment of Islamic textiles both for their quality and as illustrations of survival and adaptation in a major industry. Their heritage reaches back well over a thousand years, even though their very high perishability means that for the earlier part of the tradition our knowledge is reliant very largely on written sources. These, however, attest to the superb quality and quantity of textiles at the courts of the period."--From Amazon.com.