'Writing with Thread' at a glance

Huma Sheikh

'Writing with Thread' uses a mix of textile art and jewelry to showcase the lives of Southwest Chinese minorities.[Click to enlarge]

'Writing with Thread,' an exhibition of Southwestern Chinese jewlery and textile art, started off as a bid to bring awareness to UH students about a community that scripted its history without a written language.The exhibition, organized by the University of Hawai'i Art Gallery, is the largest of its kind, featuring over 500 objects from 15 ethnic groups and 100 subgroups of Southwest China."The event is fascinating, as it provides the history of the ethnic minorities who lived without written languages and passed their customs and traditions orally through generations," UH Art Gallery Director Lisa Yoshihara said. "So one way to document their cultural beliefs was through embroidery. And the thread became their ink and the needle their pen."The exhibition, which is on loan from Taiwan, showcases what they choose to be the most outstanding examples of the textile arts and is assembled by Huang Yingfeng, the director of Evergrand Museum in Taiwan. Huang has worked for over 17 years to collect the objects of historical importance. According Yoshihara, he believes the collection reflects the meaning associated with the production of indigenous clothing."Mr. Huang has spent nearly two decades building the collection in order to preserve it before it is lost. So it's a real gift to the world," Yoshihara said.She also said the UH Art Gallery is committed to featuring both contemporary and historic works to acclimatize students to different traditions. "We encourage students to see this unique collection because this is once in a lifetime chance," she said.'Writing with Thread' began on Sept. 21 and will continue until Nov. 30. The collection's presentation, which showcases apparel, baby carriers, quilt covers, festive and religious vestments and silver jewelry, reflects the great river systems of the Southwestern region of China along which indigenous groups settled.For more information on the exhibit, contact the University of Hawai'i Art Gallery at (808) 956-6888 or visit their website at hawaii.edu/artgallery/The exhibition will be held next in the Chazen Museum of Art at the University of Wisconsin from Jan. 31, 2009 through April 12, 2009. It will then be opened in New Mexico from May 15 to Aug. 16 at the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe.
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