Quilts at Last

Atlantic ICW #2

Georgetown, SC 22-25 Apr 2018

Moving north lead us to Georgetown, South Carolina and the informative Gullah Museum.  Pride of place in the exhibits goes to Gullah artist Vermelle "Bunny" Smith Rodrigues’ amazing quilts.  The quilts are folk art story quilts telling the history of the Gullah people and are used to inform visitors at the Museum.  Centre place however is reserved for her famous Michelle Obama Quilt that tells of Mrs Obama’s ancestral connections to the area.  

I was granted permission to photograph these quilts when we visited the Gullah Museum, which is well worth the effort, especially if you sit a while with very friendly and informed docents to really appreciate Gullah history.  Not in Georgetown?  Then read a little about the history here on Wiki.

My understanding, simplistically, is that the whole plantation system revolved around the use of slave labour and many slaves were brought in from West Africa to cultivate crops of rice, tobacco, indigo and sea island cotton.  African people brought into the Low Country during colonial times developed their own creole language and maintained a culture rich with African influences. I found this interesting Pinterest site with lots of exciting examples of Gullah art; not quilting but very inspirational anyway.  

Stop by the Museum in Georgetown to discover the joy of story-telling and quilts.

Take the Road Less Travelled: Cats & Romans

Montenegro

26^th July 2015

Warning...  This post has nothing to do with textiles.  But I had such a fun day in Kotor!!

While the lads set off on a very hot day to climb the heights of Kotor’s fortified perimeter, I slunk off to shadier streets of the old town to find the Cat Museum.  I don’t know what I was expecting but it turned out to be a quirky and surprising collection of cat related memorabilia with a soft-hearted (cat loving) owner and staff.  One should put cat/dog prejudices aside and enjoy this curious collection for what it is – a satisfying glimpse of history through a body of work we might never have otherwise seen or even considered. To me, this is what makes us human (& humane).  

View from above Kotor

Across from the Cat Museum and located off a delightfully quiet square, is the Lapidary Museum.  Of course to me, lapidary means rocks & gems, in which I have little interest, but I was intrigued by the little church and went in anyway.  What a great decision.  

The building turned out to be the church of St Mikhail; a very historic 13^th c Gothic shell built over a 7^th c Benedictine Monastery and more.  Following an earthquake in 1979, its underground treasures were “released” from under its floors and now the Museum is loaded with frescoes, stone carvings and relics dating back to early-history and Roman times.  

I know this because the most engaging lady at the front desk took the time and trouble to point out items of significance and interest.  How nice is that?

Narrow streets, too narrow for most vehicles...

By the way, in Roman times until 1918, Kotor was known as Cattaro ; )  Miaow!

Combing Croatia

July 2015

Croatia was also a too-brief interlude, and although we made stops in a number of places, the most textile-likely were Pula and Dubrovnik.   If you can take your eyes of stunning historic buildings, beautiful blue water and "I want to live here" island communities, that is!!

In Dubrovnik we had four lucky finds:

• the Rupe Ethnographic Museum. The museum was challenging to find but it did take us into the less touristy areas of old Dubrovnik.  Who would have thought the old town to be so steep in places!

• well stocked craft stores (especially the Korkula Art & Craft Store brimming with locally made products including some lovely embroideries),

• more than one craftswoman stitching in the street (in costume & selling her hand-made wares), and

• an open air market near the Cathedral (in the shade of its west wall) featuring textiles, crafts and jewellery. 

I later discovered that Croatia also has a significant lace-making community (bobbin lace from Lepoglavia; aloe lace from Hvar; needle lace from Pag) and a once highly productive silk manufacturing area in Konvale dating back to the 15th c.  Production of rick rack braid is also mentioned but I never managed to find any.

A couple of interesting sites to check out for more detail (than I managed to cover in this post) are textile blogs and reliable pinterest communities for information and eye candy. I am also drawn to a fabulous book on historic costume - with a very hefty price-tag...  (These links have since broken or are out of date!)

Still, Mothers Day is coming up.  I wonder if I could swing it?

Glory Days

Moving on from Santorini, our next stop was Crete - the main object of course, being Knossos.  A limited schedule dictated firstly a visit to the wonderful & enlightening Archaeological Museum in Heraklion; and I’m very pleased we did.  The museum exhibits are the “icing” on the cake of Knossos and thus prepared, we were better able to envisage the city as it might have once been in the Minoan (2600-1450 BCE) glory days, when we finally made it to this historic and most magic of sites.

Delightful wall paintings and sensitive artwork on pottery, statues, religious and funerary objects gives insight into the Minoan love of elaborate textiles.  Men and women wear carefully fitted garments, some for rather athletic pursuits (bull leaping) and clearly prefer bright colours.  We understand that craftsmen and women were highly skilled in the art of spinning, weaving, dyeing and sewing/millinery, which was not accomplished in isolation.  The Minoans also had a reputation for being experienced sailors and traders – quite obviously with an eye for acquiring tasteful style; in design as well as expertise. 

We managed to visit a couple of other towns, mostly awash with tourist tat (made cheaply in China), with little success in uncovering locally produced modern textiles.  Time sadly was against us to be more thorough.  I did read later (on the ferry out, no less) of the inspiring Penelope Ghandi Mission on Crete.  It has been established to revive the fine art of weaving.  Local craftswomen make traditional and unique Cretan weavings & embroideries.  I’ll just have to go back then…some day!

(Whilst searching for some informative links on the topic of Minoan textiles, I came across these: an interesting blog (textileranger) and a short article (unl) that helps in understanding Minoan life & times.  By now, you’ve probably realised that curiosity forms my cornerstone rather than a solid learning base.  Anyhow, I doubt that I’d live long enough to study textiles in sufficient depth to parallel the extent of our excursions, so skimpy my notes will remain…  )

Ever so Briefly, Santorini

Santorini, Greece: 7 May 2015 

To begin at the beginning of the season, we made a short detour via ferry to Santorini, allowing ourselves only a few days to enjoy the delights of this scenic island.

View over the Caldera (looking south towards Oia)

Textiles don't survive time well, especially not after catastrophic eruptions.  So at best in Fira's museums, we discovered a few more robust examples of how Thira locals (mostly the wealthy ones who could leave something for posterity) lived out their daily lives.   

We know the Ancient Greeks wove extraordinarily well; legend has it that Penelope, wife of Odysseus, wove a shroud of fine linen for her father-in-law, Laertes.  And we know that they had used linen for quality clothing since 2800BC. 

Luckily we have some extraordinary examples of pottery and murals that allow us to reflect on these skills. (Although I seem to have gotten carried away with marine rather than textile references!) 

This deserves a closer look to see that amazing detail. 
I'm wondering too, if this was our hero, Hercules...

Textile Hunters: Bulgaria

Bulgaria
21^st October 2014

After a very long day in the train, we arrived at night to see Veliko Tarnovo with its fairy lights on.  It was an apt introduction to this lovely city, once centre of the Bulgarian Empire. 

This magic was not lost in daylight as we walked medieval streets, explored historical monuments, learned about street art and took in an opera – as you do! 

My closest brush with textiles was admiring the many leather shoe & boot options available in town.  The locals are a very fashion conscious lot and clothes & accessory shops abound. 

A view over Medieval Veliko Tarnovo

Up early with coffee in hand, we caught a bus to Sofia.  Sadly, rain had set in, although we were able to complete a walking tour and explore a few grand museums, cathedrals and art galleries in this reserved but especially attractive city.  I finally found a lovely hand-embroidered table runner at a market stall to add to my textile collection.

Costumes at the Sofia Art Gallery

On our way to Gorno Draglishte we made a stop at the Rila Monastery.  What can I say but simply stunning and well worth the stop.  We had a local lunch of bean soup and monastery bread which was rather nicer than their names suggest. 

After days of experiencing big city life, it was wonderful to arrive in the village of Gorno Draglishte.  We stayed in a local guest house and were immediately immersed in traditional life.  Best of all, downstairs off our dining area, was the family’s repository of local crafts.  A large loom took centre stage and various samples of textile work were hung around a wall.  Somehow I missed a local shop where others bought a few handcrafts.

Loom & costumes at the ready...

Need to wash your quilts?  Perfect, I have just the very thing!

By now we were noticing the weather was certainly getting colder (& wetter!).  This was handy because Bankso is one of Bulgaria’s premier skiing resorts…and the snow certainly arrived with us. 

Luckily we had spent an afternoon at the bear sanctuary (rescued bears) while the roads were still passable (and the bears still awake!).  However it was such fun to frolic in mounds of that fresh powdery snow! 

Our hosts were especially kind and provided plenty of sustenance (chocolate éclairs, red wine, rakia) and a lovely blazing fire.  We were thoroughly spoilt!

Not especially fond of humans I imagine after some very rough treatment

We trained through snow covered forests to the delightful city of Plovdiv.  It was slightly warmer but still wet!  After a walking tour through the old town we were able to explore on our own.  I headed for galleries and museums to continue my textile discoveries.  Our tour was nearly over!  Thankfully, I managed to find a few antique shops and at one, discovered a locally made weaving.  

Ethnographic Museum Plovdiv

Links to Bulgarian textile information as follows:

The TextileBlog

BulgarianTraditional Clothes (Pinterest)

Handy Eye Magazine

(The tour we took was Intrepid’s Eastern Europe Explorer.  It was a general tour, not textile specific, but I certainly had the time and expertise of our various hosts to point me in that direction.  I will also confess to having done a little research prior to taking this trip so that it was not a wasted opportunity.  You will see from the links that Eastern Europe has a long history of folk art and textiles - at all levels of society.  It was wonderful to experience it and we highly recommend the tour, although the travelling style may not suit everyone.)

Textile Hunters: Romania

Romania
14^th October 2014

Our room in Maramures was decorated with Ramona's handiwork

If Eger was “small town”, then Maramures was positively rural.  And the textile trail was hotting up!  Our homestay host, Romana, had her house beautifully decorated in the traditional way with all manner of textiles.  We also had a day tour of the local area organised, fitting in visits to the Painted Cemetery, the Holocaust Museum, an ancient wooden church, a working farm that used water driven tools and a painted monastery.  The link to textiles became quite clear – making cloth and decorating textiles was once just part of life. 

The Black Wooden Church

Textiles inside the Black Church

Felt made with an antiquarian water-driven pounding machine

The Painted Cemetery

In the old town of Sighisoara, we first met up with Vlad the Impaler (aka Dracula).  Perched high on a hill (a good defensive position), this walled complex certainly retains something of the character of those dark old days.  Gloomy covered stairs reek of headless horsemen, whilst a maze of narrow, cobbled streets offer secret places to hide or be hidden.  Overhead, massive towers loom dramatically and a cemetery has just the right amount of unkempt greenery.    

Sighisoara's Town Square - site of some nasty goings-on in the old days!

We took rural to a new level in Viscri, where our host had restored a number of houses in this peaceful village. 

It was like a living museum and we very much appreciated friendly locals who treated us to living the good life.  The fortified church had a few rooms of costumes & textile folk crafts to browse through, so with a pair of locally made felt slippers, we were making connections at last.

Brasov became our base for a day tour of exquisite Peles Palace, medieval Rasnov Fortress and Dracula’s most famous, Bran Castle. 

We had a great day sticking our nose in to see how the rich and powerful lived during the various eras covered by each castle.  Brasov itself has a rich and most interesting history and we wandered for a few hours inside and out, of the old city walls. 

The time had come however to seek out an ethnographic museum and Brasov’s fit the bill especially well.

Looking soldierly in Brasov

Bran Castle...Vlad stayed here once

Beautiful costume in Bram Castle

We drove through beautiful autumn forests catching glimpses of snow as we made our way by bus and train to eventually arrive in Bucharest.  This is a stately and reserved city with vast monoliths built to commemorate the might of conservative communist leaders.  We explored the city, delighted by its many paradoxes and yet again managed to unearth a link to Vlad the Impaler, with foundations of his Princely Court in the city centre.  I found a few vague textile connections though didn’t have time to fully explore museums.  The weather was nice, the park attractive with row boats, black swans and old men playing board games.  So instead of pounding the pavement, we sat lake-side and took in the ambience over a local beer or two.

Again, a few more interesting links to explore Romanian textiles:

ThreadWritten Textiles

R John Howe

Romanian Ethnic Art (Pinterest)

Shop display looking rather enticing but closed!