Member Programs

Prized worldwide for producing vivid patterns and colors, the ancient resist-dyeing technique of ikat developed independently in communities across Asia, Africa and the Americas, where it continues to inspire artists and designers today. This exhibition explores the global phenomenon of ikat textiles through more than 70 masterful examples from countries as diverse as Japan, Indonesia, India, Uzbekistan, Côte d'Ivoire and Guatemala.

Join Curator Lee Talbot as he shares some of the artworks on display.

Video by Dominic Mann Visuals.

The ancient dyeing technique of ikat — adding color and pattern to yarns before the weaving process — developed independently in disparate geographic locations and time periods. Explore examples of global ikat from The Textile Museum Collection with curators Shelley Burian, Sumru Belger Krody and Lee Talbot.

Presenters
Shelley Burian, Lisa and Bernard Selz Curator
Sumru Belger Krody, senior curator, The Textile Museum Collection
Lee Talbot, curator, The Textile Museum Collection

Woven by women to adorn tents and camel caravans, kilims are enduring records of life in Türkiye’s nomadic communities. In this virtual program, Megalli Conservation Research Fellow Callie Jerman shares how her technical analysis of kilims from the Murad Megalli collection is expanding our knowledge of 18th- and 19th-century nomadic community lifestyles in Anatolia. Senior Curator Sumru Belger Krody provides context on this distinctive weaving tradition.

About Sumru Belger Krody
Sumru Belger Krody joined The Textile Museum in 1994 and was appointed senior curator in 2011. Specializing in textiles from the late antique era and Islamic world, Krody has curated numerous exhibitions and authored exhibition catalogs, articles and book chapters. She is also editor-in-chief of The Textile Museum Journal. Krody holds degrees in classical archaeology from Istanbul University and the University of Pennsylvania.

About Callie Jerman
Callie Jerman joined the museum in 2022 as the Megalli Conservation Research Fellow. She holds a master's in textile conservation from the University of Glasgow and trained as a biological engineer and polymer chemist at the University of California, Stanford University and Carnegie Mellon University. Her research interests include the intersection of technical art history, conservation science and scientific justification for conservation treatments.

About Member Programs
Support the museum and enjoy access to special members-only programs, including curator talks and behind-the-scenes tours.

Animals are integral to human culture: They are crucial food sources, powerful symbols, work partners and companions. Around the world, many different types of textiles have been designed to adorn animals, and animal imagery represents a wider range of ideas, from parables to colonial relationships. Starting July 8, the museum’s lower-level galleries will display a global selection of animal-related textiles from The Textile Museum Collection. These examples represent a variety of construction techniques, materials and functions, but all invoke the power and prestige of animals in textile design.

Presenters
Shelley Burian, Lisa and Bernard Selz curator
Sumru Belger Krody, senior curator, The Textile Museum Collection
Lee Talbot, curator, The Textile Museum Collection

Longtime Textile Museum research associate Mattiebelle Gittinger is one of the preeminent scholars on South and Southeast Asian textiles – publishing numerous influential books and articles, and curating multiple exhibitions over the course of her career. In 2022, she donated her archives to the Arthur D. Jenkins Library so that her groundbreaking field research could be made accessible for students and scholars around the world. Learn more about Dr. Gittinger’s impact and legacy with Curator Lee Talbot, and enjoy a sneak peek at some of the recently digitized archival materials with Librarian Tracy Meserve and GW student and archives assistant Margaret Harris.

In the Muslim faith, carpets create physically and spiritually “clean” spaces during the daily ritual of prayer. Drawn from five collections, "Prayer and Transcendence" introduces the purpose and iconography of classical prayer rugs from across the Islamic world, as well as design comparisons from the Jewish tradition.

Join Senior Curator Sumru Belger Krody as she shares some of the artworks on display.

Video by Dominic Mann Visuals.