RECENT TAASA ACTIVITIES 24 November 2022 End of year party and bazaar After too long a hiatus due to Covid 19, members in Sydney were thrilled to be able to celebrate the end of the year with TAASA. The Annie Wyatt Room at the National Trust at Observatory Hill looked fantastic with intricate Southeast Asian [...]
TEXTILE STUDY GROUP, NSW 8 November 2022 Living with Textiles Margaret White and Sandy Watson kindly opened their fascinating homes to 20 TAASA members. Sandy focused on Central Asian textiles, including a variety of hats from Uzbekistan, a firm cap with gold embroidery Margaret White presenting a piece from her collection to TAASA members. Photo: [...]
END OF YEAR PARTY Batik Tiga Negeri (DETAIL) 26 Photos: Mai Nguyen-Long and was presented with support from the Consulate General of India. Well known TAASA members, Christina Sumner and Liz Williamson were valued advisors to the exhibition. The exhibition not only focused on textiles from the 14th to early 20th c, it included the [...]
THE VISUAL VOCABULARY OF THE ‘KAWUNG’ PATTERN OF INTERLOCKING CIRCLES IN JAVA Lesley S Pullen I n Java, the geometric textile pattern group known as ceplokan, includes the kawung design which consists of a series of interlocking circles in various forms. This pattern structure is first seen carved on stone statues dating to the 13th [...]
TRADE PATOLA, CHHABADI BHAT ’FLOWERING BASKET’ PATTERN, DOUBLE IKAT IN SILK, FOR THE INDONESIAN MARKET, 19th CENTURY, PRIVATE COLLECTION. PHOTO: LESLEY PULLEN Visual representations of the interlocking circles pattern date back some five thousand years. A storage pottery jar from the Harappan period 2700-2000 BCE is decorated with a pattern of interlocking circles. The ceiling [...]
BOOK REVIEW: FACES OF INDONESIA Gael Newton Faces of Indonesia: 500 Postcards 1900-1945 Scott Merrillees Hanusz Publishing, Ohio, 2021 RRP: $42.75, hardback, colour illustrations Faces of Indonesia 500 postcards 1900-1945 is the fourth large format photographically illustrated publication on Indonesia by Australian collector/ researcher Scott Merrillees. After graduation in economics, Indonesian and Malay studies at [...]
CHINESE TOGGLES: CULTURE IN MINIATURE - A CHAU CHAK WING AND POWERHOUSE MUSEUM PROJECT Shuxia Chen T he project Chinese Toggles: Culture in Miniature, including an exhibition coproduced with the Powerhouse museum, a book co-published with Power Publications and the Powerhouse museum, together with a series of public and object-based learning programs, showcases the important [...]
REBIRTH IN GLASS: THE WORK OF NC QIN Yin Cao With my use of recycled glass in this new body of work, I’m looking into the idea of transforming something widely seen as humble or just overlooked into a material that resembles jade, something precious and prestigious. NC Qin T he Chinese phrase ‘Gu Jin [...]
MAKING INDIAN COMPANY SCHOOL PAINTING AVAILABLE Eileen Chanin I n general, access to view Indian painting in public institutions is limited, being typically rotated for display by virtue of its sensitivity to light. In particular, identifying the full range of Company School painting held in Australia’s public collections is not easy, depending on whether and [...]
BOOK REVIEW: MADE IN CHINATOWN Ann Toy Made in Chinatown. Chinese-Australian Furniture Factories, 1880- 1930 Peter Charles Gibson Sydney University Press RRP: $40 paperback, 226 pp Last December, the City of Sydney Council proposed naming a new lane between George and Pitt Streets ‘Ah Toy Lane’ a profound tribute to the contribution of Chinese cabinetmakers [...]