Signs and Symbols: Flat weaving of nomadic Turkish herders

At the edge of Willamette University campus the Hallie Ford Museum has a show of Turkish flat weaves.  The exhibition includes examples of 19th and 20th century rugs, saddle bags, storage bags, dowry pieces made by the nomadic herders of Turkey.  For centuries the nomadic herders lived in black goat-hair tents and traveled with their sheep and goats from winter to summer pastures.  The bold geometric symbols reflect the hops, fears, dreams and aspirations of the nomadic people, ranging from a happy marriage, having many children and getting protection from the evil eye.

Going through the exhibit you can feel the sense of time and the quiet of the weavers as they expressed their hopes into patterns and colors.  The culture of the nomads seemed to express in things, in cloth and weaving.  Symbols, motifs, color and color combination for a non-verbal communication.  Talismans: giving families protection from evil, ensuring good luck and security.  They might define land, or be used in courtship, in birth and various rites of passage including death.

There is movement in the patterns and the colors and beauty in simple things.  The nomads carried their homes with them.  They learned to cherish a few well made things that spoke to them of their life.  I wonder what I carry with me to protect me and my family from the evil eye.

The Fabric of the Past: Thomas Kay Woolen Mill

The Willamette Heritage Center in Salem has early settlement homes  and the Thomas Kay Woolen Mill, which you can walk through.  The mill was founded in 1889 by Thomas Kay and produced fine woolen blankets and fabrics.  It was managed by four generations of the Kay family and operated continuously until 1962.  It is the only woolen mill museum in the western United States and has a water powered turbine capable of generating electricity from the millrace.

The mill is clean, quiet.  The 19th and early 20th Century equipment still in working order.  The wooden carts and tools stand ready, as if they had been stopped because of a lunch break that was almost over.  There is a museum attendant, in period costume who will turn on the weaving machine and bring it to life.

There are large wheels and wide belts slowly moving through out the mill.  The water power still providing the energy to turn raw fleeces into fine wool fabric.

Walking down the long open work spaces of the mill is a walk back into our industrial heritage.  You can almost hear the machines pull, twist or ply the wool into shape.  The floor shows the memory of all the water used.  Through the light from tall round topped windows you can image the floating dust.

The 2nd floor of the mill shows the process from fleece to carding to spinning to weaving.  The ground floor shows the process of turning the first woven fabric into finished blankets and fine cloth.  And as you stroll, there are wheels slowly turning and belts silently moving ready have a gear lowered to once again engage them in the making of real, useful, necessary products.

It is good to look at what we made and how we made it and to reflect on what we are making these days.

The traditional costumes gives an insight to culture

The Willamette Heritage Center at the Mill in Salem is an amazing fabric museum with events, programs and exhibits.  We visited their current exhibit The Art And Tradition of Kimono which began September 21st and will be available until December 24th.

The Kimono is the national costume of Japan.  The exhibit features kimonos created during the early 20th century.  The geometric simplicity of the silk fabric's cut contrasts with the elegant floral designs or regular bright patterns.  The kimono seems to reflect the Japanese culture which values simple form intertwined with equally simple but dramatic designs.

Liz looking at Kimono underware

In a calm, quiet space the exhibit has several kimonos and pictures and information about how they were created.  We had the kimonos to ourselves to study and admire at our leisure.  There is a nice slide show of the kimono exhibit at the Heritage website.  But nothing like seeing the kimonos' vibrancy in person.

The Art and Tradition of Kimono exhibit is housed on the second floor of the Thomas Kay Woolen Mill.  The Mill is close to a living museum, where you can walk among the machinery which skill works.  On the second floor landing the Mill is evident through windows.  Behind a discrete door the kimonos wait, floating on their stands, emblems of another time another culture.  Stepping into the exhibit from the big 19th century American style woolen mill is also an interesting contrast of cultures.