An updated edition of this indispensable reference, surveying the history of textiles from 25,000 years ago to the present. The history of textiles, more than that of any other artifact, is a history of human ingenuity. From the very earliest needles of 25,000 years ago to the smart textiles of today, textiles have been fundamental to human existence, and enjoyed, prized, and valued by every culture. Silks from China, cottons from India, tapestries from Flanders, dyes from South America—the appeal of different weaves, colors, and patterns was long a motivation for trade, the exchange of ideas, and sometimes even war. Mary Schoeser’s groundbreaking book, now revised and updated to incorporate new research with color illustrations, presents a chronological survey of textiles around the world from prehistory to the present. It explores how they are made, what they are made from, how they function in society, and the ways in which they are valued and given meaning as well as reflecting on the environmental challenges they present today. World Textiles offers an invaluable introduction to this vast and fascinating subject for makers, designers, textile and fashion professionals, collectors, and students alike.

The history of textiles, more than that of any other artefact, is a history of human ingenuity. From the very earliest needles of 50,000 years ago to the smart textiles of today, textiles have been fundamental to human existence, and enjoyed, prized and valued by every culture. Silks from China, cottons from India, tapestries from Flanders, dyes from South America the appeal of different weaves, colours and patterns was long a motivation for trade, the exchange of ideas and sometimes even war. Mary Schoesers groundbreaking book, now revised and updated to incorporate new research, presents a chronological survey of textiles around the world from prehistory to the present. It explores how they are made, what they are made from, how they function in society and the ways in which they are valued and given meaning as well as reflecting on the environmental challenges they present today. World Textiles offers an invaluable introduction to this vast and fascinating subject for makers, designers, textile and fashion professionals, collectors and students alike.

Shows examples of textiles from around the world, including textiles decorated using paint, dyes, sewing, embroidery, and other embellishments.

Published in conjunction with an exhibition held at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Sept. 16, 2013-Jan. 5, 2014.

Profiles a West Bengali caste specializing in producing painted narrative scrolls and performing songs to accompany their unrolling.

Featuring textiles from the Balkans, the Middle East, Asia, Africa, Central and South America, this book reveals an eclectic selection of over 150 textiles that illustrate the richness and diversity of world textiles. With expert commentary that highlights the key features of the designs and sets them in their social and cultural context, this book gives insight into the significance of pattern and symbolism and tells the stories behind these spectacular works. Awash with vibrant color, fascinating motifs, and an assortment of striking and intricate patterns, this sourcebook offers a wealth of inspiration for using color and pattern and is a must-have for anyone interested in textile and design. * Includes various techniques of production: embroidery, weaving, printing and dyeing * Shows each individual textile in full through a series of detailed photographs

"Lavishly illustrated analysis and guide discusses the significance of art for the people of the Pacific Islands. Examines the art forms and practices of particular regions, for example, Maori ancestral carvings, and rituals of exchange and warfare in the Solomon Islands. Discusses topics such as maternal symbolism and male cults, and also provides a chapter on narrative art and tourism. Includes a bibliography, references and an index." - product description.

An exceptionally clear, thorough, and well- illustrated introduction to abstract art since 1900. Since the early years of the twentieth century, Western abstract art has fascinated, outraged, and bewildered audiences. Its path to acceptance within the artistic mainstream was slow. This revised edition traces the origins and evolution of abstract art, placing it in broad cultural context. Well-respected scholar Anna Moszynska examines the pioneering work of Hilma af Klint, Wassily Kandinsky, Kazimir Malevich, and Piet Mondrian alongside the Russian Constructivists, the De Stijl group, and the Bauhaus artists, contrasting European geometric abstraction in the 1930s and ’40s with the emphasis on personal expression after World War II. Op, kinetic, and minimal art of the postwar period is discussed and illustrated in detail, and new chapters bring the account up to date, exploring the crisis in abstraction of the 1980s and its revival—in paint, fabric, sculpture, and installation—in recent decades. The first edition of Abstract Art, published in 1990, was acclaimed by reviewers. Revised with extensive updates, this book includes new chapters on recent trends and offers fully global coverage of art produced in North and South America, Europe, China, Korea, and the Middle East. Now in full color and comprehensively revised, it will serve as the best introduction to abstract art for a new generation.

In 1974, women in a feminist consciousness-raising group in Eugene, Oregon, formed a mock organization called the Ladies Sewing Circle and Terrorist Society. Emblazoning its logo onto t-shirts, the group wryly envisioned female collective textile making as a practice that could upend conventions, threaten state structures, and wreak political havoc. Elaborating on this example as a prehistory to the more recent phenomenon of “craftivism”—the politics and social practices associated with handmaking—Fray explores textiles and their role at the forefront of debates about process, materiality, gender, and race in times of economic upheaval. Closely examining how amateurs and fine artists in the United States and Chile turned to sewing, braiding, knotting, and quilting amid the rise of global manufacturing, Julia Bryan-Wilson argues that textiles unravel the high/low divide and urges us to think flexibly about what the politics of textiles might be. Her case studies from the 1970s through the 1990s—including the improvised costumes of the theater troupe the Cockettes, the braided rag rugs of US artist Harmony Hammond, the thread-based sculptures of Chilean artist Cecilia Vicuña, the small hand-sewn tapestries depicting Pinochet’s torture, and the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt—are often taken as evidence of the inherently progressive nature of handcrafted textiles. Fray, however, shows that such methods are recruited to often ambivalent ends, leaving textiles very much “in the fray” of debates about feminized labor, protest cultures, and queer identities; the malleability of cloth and fiber means that textiles can be activated, or stretched, in many ideological directions. The first contemporary art history book to discuss both fine art and amateur registers of handmaking at such an expansive scale, Fray unveils crucial insights into how textiles inhabit the broad space between artistic and political poles—high and low, untrained and highly skilled, conformist and disobedient, craft and art.