Minasian Textile Arts opens its fall exhibition "Island Magic - Court and Tribal Textiles from Indonesia" at its gallery space at 1244 Chicago Avenue in Evanston. Opening to the public on November 7th, this exhibition will feature textiles ranging from indigenous tribal sarongs and ikats to sacred cloths for rituals, weddings and funerals and also the highly stylized batiks of the Javanese court.

Experts now agree that the archipelago of Indonesia comprises more than 17,500 islands and the diversity of textiles from those far-flung cultural traditions is staggering. When one museum specialist suggests "textiles are to Indonesia what painting is to Italy," that is no understatement. In fact, the textile designs and patterns handed down by the "ancient peoples" of Indonesia are a true living language for many groups who until recently had no written alphabet at all.

 To this day, Indonesian life is infused by the presence of ancestral spirits--- this despite centuries of Christian and Islamic missionary influence. The mostly tropical climate of the islands means that clothing requirements are simple, but every handmade garment, ritual cloth or festival banner is covered with very specific woven or applied designs. Whether abstract or realistic, these symbols bring the power of plants, animals and supernatural spirits into play in all aspects of everyday life.

Minasian Textile Arts director Stephen Blackwelder has curated the exhibition from several private collections and MTA inventory. Visitors will be able to see several pua kumbu, or powerfully protective ikat cloths used by actual head hunters in Borneo. Better known in the West are the panoramic palepai or "ships cloths" of Sumatra and the virtuosic Geringsing double-ikats made only in one small village in Bali. Vibrant tropical colors explode from the intricate wax-resist batiks from the colonial centers of Yogyakarta and Surakarta in Java. And perhaps most treasured of all are the richly brocaded and woven songkets and tapis, with their gold and silver threads and highly stylized court designs.

Long known for its inventory of antique Oriental rugs, Minasian Textile Arts continues its tradition of mounting critically acclaimed exhibitions of rugs and ethnographic textiles for the public. This offering is the 11^th in a continuing series, many of which have been reviewed in HALI, the international magazine of Carpets and Textile arts. Brothers Armen and Carnig Minasian are well recognized enthusiasts of textiles as art. "Until recently, textiles have been considered "step-children" of the fine and decorative arts" relates Carnig Minasian. "Now, museums and designers are clamoring to bring exotic textiles from all over the world into installations, offices and private spaces."  

The many pieces in this exhibit are constructed in a variety of techniques: hand spun and dyed plain cloth with embroidery, single and double woven ikat, silk and metalwork songket, cloths of supplementary warp or supplementary weft work, hand drawn tulis or wax-resist batik, beadwork embroidery and appliqué and, in many examples, a combination of techniques. All of these vintage and antique textiles were made for personal or ritual use by the women who wove them, often as "bride-wealth" symbols of prestige and accomplishment. Thus, a collector can capture in miniature the cultural essence of a tribe or ethnic group in a way that is both efficient and relatively affordable.