WASHINGTON, DC, (amnnews.com) — “Harpies, Mermaids, and Tulips: Embroidery of the Greek Islands and Epirus Region” will be on view at The Textile Museum March 17 – September 3, 2006. The exhibition includes approximately 70 embroidered textiles created between the 17th and 19th centuries for bridal trousseaux and domestic life. The textiles on display are from island groups located in the Ionian and Aegean seas surrounding the Greek mainland, and from the Epirus region on the western Greek coast. While the geographic area where these textiles were made is relatively small, they are incredibly diverse in design, structure and function. The exhibition will explore how and why people living so close together produced such divergent styles of embroidered textiles, offering a unique window into Greek island societies at the intersection of two worlds: the Latin West and Ottoman East. Objects include colorfully-embroidered bed tents, bed curtains, large covers, and pillows, as well as handkerchiefs and embroidered panels from women’s clothing. All of the textiles, except for two loaned objects, are from The Textile Museum’s collections. Many were collected by the Museum’s founder, George Hewitt Myers, in the early part of the 20th century.
EXHIBITION THEMES
The Epirus region and the islands in the Aegean and Ionian seas were located in a pivotal position and at a cultural crossroads along major trade routes between West Asia, the Black Sea and Europe during the early modern period. Consequently the region was exposed to and assimilated artistic influences of the two principal cultures vying for political dominance during the time, the Venetians and Ottomans. An attractive and informative example of Greek Island rural craft, the embroideries featured in “Harpies, Mermaids, and Tulips” demonstrate the complex interactions between the creative energies of an embroiderer, her community, and her exposure to the political, economic, and social environment in which she lived. Continue reading