Binding the Clouds: The Art of Central Asian Ikat

The earliest surviving ikat textiles are attributed to craftspeople from the ancient city of Bukhara, nestled in one of Central Asia’s fertile oases. Surrounded by lush orchards and fields, the city was the center of power for the Manghit dynasty’s Bukharan Khanate from 1785 until the Soviet conquest in 1920.

During this period of relative peace, Bukhara thrived as the political, economic, cultural, and artistic center of the region.

The first full-scale commercial production of ikat probably began here in the late eighteenth century and spread northeast to Samarkand and Tashkent by the middle of the nineteenth century. Ikat continued to thrive further east in the Fergana Valley into the early twentieth century.

Hanging (detail), 1840–1860. Silk, cotton; warp-faced plain weave, warp ikat, four loom-width panels sewn together; 183 cm × 117 cm (72 in × 46 in). The Textile Museum 2015.11.57, gift of Guido Goldman in honor of Bruce P. Baganz.

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Central Asian ikat fabric was commercially manufactured for both urban and rural consumption, and made into utilitarian objects such as hangings and robes. It was precious and prestigious due to the high cost of silk and a sophisticated production sequence that required a large and highly skilled workforce of designers, binders, dyers, and weavers.

Ikat fabric derives its name from the technique used to decorate it. In this method, before weaving commences, parts of the warp or weft yarns are bound off to resist dye penetration, resulting in complex patterns of brilliant colors. Textiles in this exhibition demonstrate the development and progression of ikat over the course of a century. The ikat designers of the century’s earlier years favored intricate but speckled patterns.

By the close of the century, bold graphic designs became fashionable. These varied designs, spanning one hundred years, mirrored the line, form and color focus of abstract art and expressionist paintings.

Ikat was a dyer’s art. Its success depended on the dyer’s mastery of his craft and clear, unhindered communication with the designer. Dye recipes had to be tried and true, so dye could penetrate the yarn evenly and be colorfast. The ikat artists achieved beautiful, unified designs with jewel-like

Hanging (detail), 1840–1860. Silk, cotton; warp-faced plain weave, warp ikat, four ikat panels sewn together; 145 cm × 79 cm (57 in × 31 in). The Textile Museum 2015.11.91, gift of Guido Goldman in honor of Bruce P. Baganz.

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colors through a sequence of binding, dyeing, unbinding, and re-binding while maintaining the position of warp yarn bundles relative to one another throughout the entire process. The whole process could take several weeks to create a 210-yard warp of multicolored ikat fabric.

The traditional term for the ikat technique in Central Asia is abrbandi, which translates to “binding clouds” (abr-cloud; bandi-binding). Artists binding the slippery, unruly silk yarns might have felt like they were trying to capture the clouds. The exactness of the repeating motifs is an indication of technical control and collaboration between the designer, binder, and weaver. The building blocks of ikat design are the bound yarn bundles. The intricacy of a design results from the number of bundles on the warp rather than the number of yarns in each bundle. To create a complex design with frequent color changes, the binders had to tie areas of the warp horizontally and vertically into many small bundles. The precision and uniformity of the repeating motifs is a reflection of the technical control and collaboration between the designer and binder.

Central Asian artists have always been more interested in conveying the spirit of nature rather than its actual appearance.

The natural forms that inspired ikat designs—birds, scorpions,

Hanging, possibly Samarkand, 1850–1875. Silk, cotton; warp-faced plain weave, warp ikat, five loom-width panels sewn together; 197 cm × 138 cm (77.5 in × 54.5 in). The Textile Museum 2015.11.30, gift of Guido Goldman in honor of Bruce P. Baganz.

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flowers, trees—become decorative, not symbolic, motifs. The tremendous variety and richness of the stylized and abstracted floral motifs seen in these ikats are testimony to the designers’ ambitious artistic goals, ingenuity, and improvisational skill.

While the designs are complex, each element is well-defined and balanced, resulting in powerful unified compositions.

Sumru Belger Krody Senior Curator

Hanging (detail), probably Samarkand, 1850–1875. Silk, cotton; warp-faced plain weave, warp ikat, six loom-width ikat panels sewn together; 211 cm × 174 cm (83 in × 65.5 in). The Textile Museum 2015.11.31, gift of Guido Goldman in honor of Bruce P. Baganz.

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About Dr. Guido Goldman Binding the Clouds: The Art of Central Asian Ikat showcases thirty-five ikat hangings from Dr. Guido Goldman’s exceptional collection of seventy-six ikat hangings and panels donated to The Textile Museum’s collections in 2015 in honor of Bruce P. Baganz, president of The Textile Museum Board of Trustees and co-chair of the George Washington University Museum Board of Trustees. Dr. Goldman’s generous gift enriches the museum’s collection of Central Asian ikats, which is now one of the largest in the United States.

A lifelong lover of the arts, Dr. Goldman first became enchanted with Central Asian ikats through a chance sighting of a colorful ikat hanging in the window of a New York gallery in 1975. He was intrigued by its unique design and bold colors, which reminded him of abstract paintings of European expressionists such as Wassily Kandinsky, whose paintings were among his favorite works.

The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum is grateful to Dr. Goldman for entrusting his collection to the museum’s stewardship, benefiting current and future generations of scholars and art enthusiasts.

Hanging (detail), Bukhara, 1800–1850. Silk, cotton; warp-faced plain weave, warp ikat; five loom-width panels sewn together; 189 cm × 142 cm (74.5 in × 56 in). The Textile Museum 2015.11.47, gift of Guido Goldman in honor of Bruce P. Baganz.

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To learn more about ikat textiles, see the publications Colors of the Oasis: Central Asian Ikats by Sumru Belger Krody, Sayera Mahkhamova, Kate Fitz Gibbon, Andrew Hale, Susan Meller, Mary Dusenbury, and Feza Çakmut (The Textile Museum, Washington, DC, 2010), and Ikat: Silks of Central Asia by Kate Fitz Gibbon and Andrew Hale (Laurence King Publications, London, 1997).

Support for this brochure is generously provided by Dr. Guido Goldman.

Velvet panel (detail), Bukhara, 1870-1900. Silk, cotton; velvet (satin weave with supplementary-warp pile), warp ikat; 178 cm × 33 cm (70 in × 13 in). The Textile Museum 2015.11.96, gift of Guido Goldman in honor of Bruce P. Baganz.

Exhibition Program Highlights All programs are free unless otherwise noted. For a complete list of programs with descriptions, or to register for a program, visit museum.gwu.edu/programs or call 202-994-7394.

LECTURE

Uzbek Women’s Dances as Living Legacies Thursday, April 12, 12 PM Laurel Victoria Gray, founding artistic director, Silk Road Dance Company LECTURE

Guido Goldman and the Ikat Revolution Kate Fitz Gibbon, attorney, cultural heritage law Guido Goldman, collector and 2018 Myers Award recipient.

Friday, April 13, 5:30 PM (reception), 6 PM (lecture) $10/museum members and GW students, faculty, and staff; $15/public

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Explore the World of Central Asia Saturday, April 14, 11 AM–4 PM Featuring the Silk Road Dance Company LECTURE

Supporters

Major support for this exhibition and related programs and events is provided by the following:

Jewish Brides, Grooms, Merchants, and Craftsmen in Central Asia Thursday, May 3, 5:30 PM (reception), 6 PM (lecture) Alanna Cooper, director of Jewish Lifelong Learning, Case Western Reserve University $10/museum members and GW students, faculty, and staff; $15/public

The Bruce P. and Olive W. Baganz Fund for The Textile Museum Exhibitions and Publications E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation Dr. Guido Goldman Roger and Claire Pratt Whiting – Turner

GALLERY TALK

Additional support is provided by the following:

Central Asian Ikat Velvets Thursday, May 17, 12 PM Sumru Belger Krody, senior curator, The Textile Museum collections WORKSHOP

Ikat Binding and Dyeing Thursday, June 14, 12–3 PM Christina P. Day, professor of fiber and sculptural studies, Maryland Institute College of Art

Dr. Mark Baganz and Ms. Laurie Salladin Sylvia Bergstrom and Joe Rothstein Cynthia Boyer and John Alton Boyer Alexander D. Crary LEO A DALY Alastair and Kathy Dunn Virginia McGehee Friend Mary Jo Ostea and Richard Brown

Hanging (detail), Bukhara, 1800–1850. Silk, cotton; warp-faced plain weave, warp ikat, five loom-width panels sewn together; 189 cm × 137 cm (74.5 in × 54.5 in). The Textile Museum 2015.11.21, gift of Guido Goldman in honor of Bruce P. Baganz.

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Hanging (detail), Bukhara, 1840–1860. Silk, cotton; warp-faced plain weave, warp ikat, six loom-width ikat panels sewn together; 206 cm × 159 cm (81 in × 62 in). The Textile Museum 2015.11.54, gift of Guido Goldman in honor of Bruce P. Baganz.

Hanging (detail), Bukhara, 1800–1850. Silk, cotton; warp-faced plain weave, warp ikat, three loom-width ikat panels sewn together; 154 cm × 84 cm (60.5 in × 33 in). The Textile Museum 2015.11.24, gift of Guido Goldman in honor of Bruce P. Baganz.