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macan tidur and icon asian arts 2010

THIRTY-THREE SEASONS IN HELL: A PROLOGUE (II)

      Eight years ago, I was interviewed for the magazine BaliSavvy, “the official American Express® guide to the island”.   I found a copy of that 2010 interview recently in an archive of the adversities I have endured since March 2010.  I decided to post it here, in several installments, as … Continue reading

Author : Susi
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The Ten Hoopen Collection of Indonesian Ikat Illuminates Lisbon

When Peter ten Hoopen travelled across the Indonesian archipelago in the 1970s, he was taken by the textile arts he saw along the way. Ikat weaving is a common thread that ties together the diversity of this nation’s myriad cultures and traditions, and unites the layers of history it was … Continue reading

Filled under : Ethnographica , Textiles , Tribal Art
Author : Susi
Comment Number : 2 Comments

Interwoven Globe: Psychedelic Textiles Exhibition at the Met

A dazzling textiles show opened last week at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, titled “Interwoven Globe: The Worldwide Textile Trade 1500 – 1800“. It’s a topic that touches on interesting aspects of Indonesian history and material culture. Unusual textiles from faraway places were hot commodities in Indonesia’s ports and … Continue reading

Filled under : Ancient Asia , Textiles
Author : Susi
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Susi’s Synaptic Straps™: Ancient Indian Textiles (Ex-Indonesia) Show in Singapore

The Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM) just acquired the greatest single collection of Indian trade textiles in the world: The Roger Hollander Collection. The museum has 70 important pieces from the collection on show now until 3 June, in a blockbuster exhibition entitled “Patterns of Trade: Indian Textiles for Export 1400 … Continue reading

Filled under : Ancient Asia , Design , Textiles
Author : Susi
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The Beautiful Life of Bruno Piazza (19 January 1941 – 28 October 2011)

BRUNO PIAZZA: MASTERPIECE My beloved husband Bruno Piazza died at home in Bali, at dawn on Friday the 28th of October, 2011 after a long and courageous battle with cancer. Bruno lived an extraordinary and beautiful life, and (not surprisingly) he died a remarkably beautiful death. He was not an … Continue reading

Author : Susi
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San Francisco Asian to Hold Major Exhibition About Bali in 2011

A large-scale exhibition entitled Bali: Art, Ritual, Performance will open in February 2011 at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, one of the world’s most respected institutions for Asian art. This is big news. Exciting news. The show includes works on loan from numerous international collections, many which have never … Continue reading

Filled under : Ethnographica , Textiles , Tribal Art
Author : Susi
Comment Number : 2 Comments

BREAKING NEWS: ICON Asian Arts Has a Website (Finally)

Our gallery of ancestral arts, ornament, weapons and textiles in Seminyak has been open for more than a year. Better late than never, at long last we have our website up. At present, there are 66 pieces from our inventory shown in the “collections” area of the site. We’ll be … Continue reading

Author : Susi
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The Soukification of San Francisco: ARTAA 2010 Rug and Textile Show

San Francisco must be the most enthusiastic city in the world when it comes to antique textiles, rugs and tribal arts. This week sees the soukification of the retro Motel Capri by the Antique Rug & Textile Art Association. While we are primarily lovers of flat textiles, and it’s a … Continue reading

Filled under : Textiles
Author : Susi
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San Francisco Knows No “Low Season” for Tribal Art and Textiles

With museum exhibitions and fairs all over the calendar, San Francisco has no “season” for tribal arts and textiles. The most notable fall fair  Tribal SF 2010 starts later this week. It’s organised by the local independent dealer’s association, SF Tribal, and kicks off with a champagne preview reception on … Continue reading

Filled under : Ethnographica , Textiles , Tribal Art
Author : Susi
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Well Hung: Javanese Batik Comes Alive at the Fowler Museum

We’ve been applauding the Fowler Museum at UCLA for years. They’ve shown a keen understanding of Indonesian culture, and nobody beats the Fowler at curating and hanging a great show. Their shows always balance the aesthetic and the didactic in the best possible way. Now they’ve done it again, with … Continue reading

Filled under : Design , Interiors , Textiles
Author : Susi
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To Dye For: Textile Exhibition at the De Young Museum

San Francisco’s De Young Museum has just opened a splendid little exhibition of selections from their tremendous collection of world textiles, entitled To Dye For: A World Saturated in Color. It focuses on various techniques used around the world to imbue plain thread with pure colour, including tie-dye, ikat, and … Continue reading

Filled under : Textiles
Author : Susi
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“Sumatra: Isle of Gold” at the Asian Civilisations Museum in Singapore

It’s too splendid to miss. An exhibition of  300 artefacts from Sumatra opened last night at the Asian Civilisations Museum in Singapore. “Sumatra: Isle of Gold” runs from today through 7 November 2010, giving us all plenty of time to plan a Singapore stopover to see the show, which is … Continue reading

Author : Susi
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Macan Tidur Hosts Young Presidents Organization Art Morning in Ubud

Last Saturday I presented a program on Indonesian arts and antiquities for a group of young CEOs in Ubud, at Gallery Macan Tidur. Based on these snapshots it looks like I gave an animated performance – – despite the fact I was on crutches, having only just been liberated from … Continue reading

Filled under : Bali , Ethnographica , Ornament , Textiles , Tribal Art
Author : Susi
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Islamic and Asian Textiles at the Ashmolean’s Jameel Centre

The Ashmolean’s Jousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art has a splendid online database of textiles. One of the collection’s superstars is this radiant sun, blazing at the centre of a 19th century Rajput royal flag. The colour is so full of muscle, it knocks you off your chair, … Continue reading

Filled under : Ancient Asia , Textiles
Author : Susi
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Rijksmuseum Seeks Textile Curator: Perfect Job for a Dyed-in-the-wool Textilian

Good news for textile scholars. The Rijksmuseum has an extraordinary vacancy. They are looking for a textile curator. Full information on the vacancy, in English, here. Application period closes 1 September 2010. Just think off all the beautiful, ancient and important textiles you will have the opportunity to work with. … Continue reading

Filled under : Textiles
Author : Susi
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Tagged on : museums

Tilleke & Gibbins : The Only Law Firm in Southeast Asia with a Textile Collection

We must salute these lawyers in Bangkok, Tilleke & Gibbins, who proudly display their collection of Southeast Asian textiles online and in-office. They even put a “Textile Collection” page on their official website to show off their woven assets. The collection includes this marvelous antique head cover from Cambodia (above), … Continue reading

Filled under : Interiors , Textiles
Author : Susi
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Indian and Islamic Textiles at Christie’s 15 April

Among the 149 lots offered at Christie’s South Kensington’s upcoming auction of Indian and Islamic textiles is this striking Egyptian appliqué wall hanging from the 1920s (detail above). The sale includes only two Indonesian textiles, a pair of “lawon” headcloths from Palembang, with the low estimate at a mere ₤1,000 … Continue reading

Filled under : Textiles
Author : Susi
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The Splendour of Sumatran Textiles on Show in Phoenix

The Phoenix Art Museum presents an exhibition of Sumatran textiles from the collection of Dr. Thomas J. Hudak, through 4 July 2010. The island of Sumatra is far larger and more diverse than most people might think. It’s five times the size of Great Britain and Ireland combined, and is … Continue reading

Filled under : Textiles
Author : Susi
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Blog Backlog: The Embellished Simplicity of Lawon Prada Textiles

John Ruddy and Kumi Masumoto (among our most favourite textile dealers), showcase an antique Sumatran prada cloth in their catalog page for the New York Arts of Pacific Asia Show 2010 (on page 85). We’ve been keen on these extremely rare textiles for over a decade, and are delighted whenever … Continue reading

Filled under : Textiles
Author : Susi
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Roger W. Hollander, Irma Lake, and “Buffalo” Bill Gates

Last June I heard Bill Gates bought Irma Lake Ranch in Wyoming, the property of a dear friend of mine, Roger W. Hollander. I was happy to receive the news. I loved this place passionately, and will never forget the times that I spent there. Knowing the ranch remains in private hands is somehow heartening. … Continue reading

Author : Susi
Comment Number : 16 Comments

Blog Backlog: Contemporary Textiles in Kolkata

Contemporary textile arts don’t get any better than this. Check out Weavers Studio in Kolkata for kantha cloth, felt, applique, embroidery, hand prints, kalamkari, zardozi, chikanwork, pintucks, pleats, shibori, and more. This is much more than a production house, it’s a textile study and development centre, devoted to fine handwork and learning … Continue reading

Filled under : Design , Interiors , Textiles
Author : Susi
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Parcours des Mondes: The Ultimate Tribal-Primal Art Fair

If you’re not in Paris right now, you missed it. Parcours des Mondes is now undeniably the ultimate event on earth for non-western art or arts premier *. It takes place in Paris every September, and if you’re not there now, you missed it, because it ends tomorrow. Book now … Continue reading

Filled under : Ethnographica , Textiles , Tribal Art
Author : Susi
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Tagged on : art exhibitions , art fairs

Textile Gallery Coming Soon to the Ashmolean

The Ashmolean is rebooting. Big plans and improvements are underway, with 39 new galleries happening, to the tune of £61 million. Among them is a major new space for textiles. Textilism is officially a trend. In recent years numerous upper-echelon museums have created spaces devoted to textiles as art, notably … Continue reading

Filled under : Ethnographica , Textiles , Tribal Art
Author : Susi
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Indonesian Textiles as Art: The Eyes Have It

An exhibition “Indonesian Textiles as Art” opened on 19 July at the Museum Pasifika in Nusa Dua, Bali. We were there. We saw. And we agreed wholeheartedly with the stance of Georges Breguet who mounted the exhibition, that the best textile arts of the archipelago are indeed art, and should … Continue reading

Filled under : Bali , Fine Art , Textiles
Author : Susi
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Textilians Take Note: Adiwastra Exhibition Jakarta April 15 – 19

The textile traditions of Indonesia are no longer ethnographic curiosities. They are the material of couture creations that can take you from the beach to the ballroom and out on the streets of the world’s culture capitals in capital style. Not convinced? Just take a look at the chic ikat … Continue reading

Filled under : Textiles
Author : Susi
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Rags to Get Glad About @ SF Tribal

In difficult times we need reasons to be cheerful, so here are some rags to be glad about. SF Tribal, a consortium of art dealers from the Bay Area, has posted a slew of new images on their group site. The ratio of textiles to objects is high. Why? SF is … Continue reading

Filled under : Textiles , Tribal Art
Author : Susi
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Predictably Limp Sales at San Francisco Tribal & Textile Fair

Bird’s eye view of Fort Mason during the SF Tribal & Textiles Show 2009 The San Francisco Tribal Art & Textiles Fair is normally the most lively fixture on the tribal/textiles circuit. Held every year in February, the show draws over 100 dealers from around the world and buyers from … Continue reading

Filled under : Ethnographica , Textiles , Tribal Art
Author : Susi
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Island Magic at Minasian Chicago

Has Chicago’s Minasian Oriental Rug Gallery gone flat? In a certain sense, yes – – they’ve hung a fabulous show of Indonesian flatweave textiles rather than their usual rugs. The exhibition, entitled “Island Magic: Court and Tribal Textiles from Indonesia” runs through the 10th of January, and was reviewed in HALI this … Continue reading

Filled under : Textiles
Author : Susi
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Primarily Primal: SF Tribal at the Presidio

Better late than never, here’s a review of the October group show by SF|Tribal, an association of Bay Area dealers. This year the event, entitled Primal at the Presidio, had a superb venue (Herbst Pavilion), for the weekend show and opening party. Numerous prominent dealers in fine Indonesian textiles and … Continue reading

Filled under : Ethnographica , Textiles , Tribal Art
Author : Susi
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Tagged on : art exhibitions , art fairs
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