Clothing Across Cultures

×

Expand

Pakistan: groom’s wedding shawl

This Meghwal groom’s embroidered wedding shawl was made in Pakistan by the bride's family. Photo by Kyla Bailey.

Even in dim lighting, these handwoven garments glimmer. Suspended from the ceiling, they're a riot of sumptuous colours, textures and patterns. Layers of Influence: Unfolding Cloth Across Cultures, on view at the UBC Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver until April 9, is a feast for the eyes. The show’s 134 exhibits, each with its own story, were selected from the museum’s 6,000-piece textile collection, which is generally stored out of sight well away from harsh light.

Fiji: bark cloth

Ghana: adinkra cloth

More than an aesthetic journey, these intriguing garments – whether Indian saris, Indonesian sarongs, Maori feather cloaks or West African adinkra cloth – also carry cultural knowledge. Curator Jennifer Kramer reached out to experts around the world to learn more about specific histories and craft techniques. “I started out with a purely aesthetic approach, looking at the colours, weaving and encrusted ornaments,” says Kramer. “Then I looked further and considered how clothes performed basic cultural needs and roles.” 

Kramer, an anthropology professor at UBC as well as the museum’s Pacific Northwest curator, heard many fascinating stories during her research into textile collection, the largest in Western Canada. For instance, she learned it can take months, even as much as a year, to create some pieces. Weavers even go into trance-like states so they can spend hour upon hour painstakingly working fine threads into magnificent lengths of fabric.

Cloth, at its most basic level, protects us from the elements, Kramer says. “But it also says something about us: pride in identity, prestige and economic power, and spiritual protection. We wrap ourselves in motifs.”

When Kramer talks about spiritual protection, she’s referring to things like the sister blanket made in 1991 by Musqueam First Nation members Debra and Robyn Sparrow. The weaving got its name not only because two sisters created it, but also because it’s based on a historical sister blanket collected in 1870 from the Pacific Northwest now housed at the Smithsonian in Washington.

British Columbia: sister blanket

Canada: button blanket

Although the Sparrow sisters’ blanket is part of the Museum of Anthropology's collection, Musqueam members can borrow it, on request, for special occasions. For instance, former chief Joe Becker wore it in 1996 at opening ceremonies for the new international wing of the Vancouver International Airport. Another former chief, Gail Sparrow, donned it for the opening ceremonies of the 1997 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference in Vancouver.

People feel empowered in clothing that’s meaningful to their culture, says Kramer. “You literally wrap yourself in your community identity and networks.” The blanket represents Musqueam identity so deeply that Kramer says it’s been described to her as “the hands of your ancestors you’re meeting.”  

×

Expand

Indonesia: ceremonial cloth

This type of ceremonial cloth was worn both as head gear and around the waist by Indonesian men. Photo by Kyla Bailey.

Other textiles in the show, like the Indonesian ceremonial weavings, exemplify how cloth evolved as artisans were exposed to cultural influences from other regions of the world. “Indonesia was subject to a tremendous gamut of trade influences because of where it’s geographically located,” says Kramer, pointing to imagery of Indonesian men dancing alongside heraldic animals such as crowned lions, emblematic of European designs, and dragon figures inspired by Japanese culture.

Meanwhile, at an exhibit of Japanese kimonos visitors can ponder why unmarried women wore kimonos with long sleeves but after marriage adopted shorter sleeves. Kramer says someone joked to her that it was because married women had to wash dishes and do other domestic chores and long sleeves would be inconvenient. But unmarried women also did chores and simply folded back their long sleeves.

China: imperial dragon robe

Nigeria: commemorative cloth

Another display looks at the evolution of ancient dragon robes after the Manchu takeover of China’s imperial court in 1644. “They were horse-riding people and fairly quickly we see shortened sleeves – called sword sleeves – and the coats became more tightly cut,” says Kramer. Still, the silk robes retain a spiritual aspect with Buddhist/Taoist conceptions of the heavens incorporated into their design.

Kramer says Westerners generally take their clothes for granted with little thought, although outfits are varied depending on the occasion. “I think people consciously dress for what they are going to be doing,” she says. “I do too. I’m a teacher and I think about the clothing I wear and what kind of messages I send out. And these cultures too. Maybe they don’t overtly think about it; it’s what they’re used to doing, wearing certain things for certain occasions.” Kramer hopes the exhibition will encourage people to pay more attention to what they wear and why. “People have different identities depending on who they are expressing themselves to,” she says. “It’s definitely amplified through cloth.”