donderdag 12 januari 2012

Textiles as a metaphor for life

In Beverly Gordon's book "Textiles - the whole story" she writes with depth about the meaning of textiles throughout history and through all cultures. Techniques, meaning as well as uses.
The meaning of cloth regarding life is an interesting topic. She describes 5 elements.

Thread as a pathway, a line to follow is the first. In mythology, fairytales and religion there are many examples in the text.  Ariadne's ball of thread to get out of the maze. Also, the word cloth is rooted in Greek mythology. Clotho was one of the three goddesses who controlled human life. Clotho was the spinner 'who spun the thread of life'.

Second is the idea of thread and cloth symbolizing connection, wholeness and strength. Plying threads make them so strong we can trust it to be strong enough to hold body weight for example.  The fragility of life is often connected to the fragility of cloth. An old piece of cloth is not just worn, but also delicate and it has a history.

Third is the symbol of birth and growth. Life grows day by day, textile grows stitch by stitch. The meaning of quilts in (native) American society is an example. But also the child's baptism dress often made of the mother's wedding dress.

The fourth element is that cloth serves as a wrapper, container or framer. Textiles protect us, comfort us and keep things together, take us to another world after we've passed away, hide us.

The fifth and last one is the 'living quality' of textile. It absorbs, both literally and metaphorically. Sweat, sound, energy.

Looking at these elements as Gordon describes them they do play a role in all cultures. My question is: are we still able to see these symbols? With the mass production of clothes, we hardly think of them  as being part of our culture. If we could get back to connect textiles with culture, we can revalue the making of garments and fabric. Thus a more sustainable approach. It can make us think of re-using and old garment instead of throwing it away. Think before you buy as well.





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