Tana Bana - the Woven Soul of Pakistan
Reviewed by Brenna Sharp
This exhibition of traditional textiles showed at the Pacific College of Art in downtown Portland in the summer of 1999.
While all of the items were clothing and accessories, because of the clothing style many were displayable as hanging flat fabrics. The fabrics themselves were of cotton and silk and the colors ranged from eye-shocking pinks and oranges to conservative navy blues and blacks.
Many of the fabrics had no woven-in pattern but virtually all of them had embellishment of some kind, frequently with multiple types of embellishment being used on a single piece. Techniques included metallic and silk thread embroidery, asut (see definition), shisha (see definition), and block-printing.
A separate room was set aside for a display of some of the block-printing tools used along with a reasonably good description of the methods employed.
Ula had already seen the exhibit, so when Vincent and I went with Annika, we took our camera and plenty of film. Vincent got permission to take pictures and oh, did we go through film! If we get permission to post the pictures, they will be linked here in a logical place. They are gorgeous!
Asut is a form of metal-strip decoration used on fabrics or the decorated fabric itself.
A thin sheet of metal (silver usually, sometimes tin or gold) is cut into tiny shreds about 1/64" by 3/8 " and then bent into thirds in a squared-off U-shape (a "staple" shape). The two ends are pushed through the fabric and then folded over onto each other on the other side and flattened.
This make a shimmery, flashy bit of sparkle that almost never falls out or off and, if done correctly, will not harm the fabric. It is used to "perk-up" other patterns or, even more breath-taking, used alone to create full patterns.
Shisha is small, round, reflective bits embroidered in to place on a fabric. Originally small pieces of sheet mica, it is now most usually pieces of modern mirror. Occasionally, mylar is now used in children's clothing. Please refer to the article What I Know about Shisha by Ula Cimmiyotti in the May 1999 issue of CM (vol. 1, iss. 7).