Nyonya Baba Culture in the Straits of Malacca - Traditional Garments

Georgetown, the old part of Penang, is a well-preserved UNESCO World Heritage Site. There one can explore a unique culture that began in the 15th century when the Straits of Malacca was one of the busiest shipping routes in the world. Chinese migrated from southern China and settled up and down the Malay coast and into Indonesia. They married the local Malays and over time developed a distinct culture reflected in their houses, clothing, customs and cooking - the Nyonya-Baba culture. Here is a link to a Nyonya's blog where she explains her origins.

The above image is outside an award winning restored Nyonya Baba mansion in Georgetown. It shows the Baba (the man) in typical Western formal men's dress of the day while the Nyonya (the woman) wears the traditional garments of her culture.

An elaborately embroidered blouse is worn over a wrapped sarong.

The sheer fabric is silk crepe or Swiss lawn embroidered with silk thread in satin stitch and long and short stitch. The area around the hips is edged in buttonhole stitch before the centres were cut out to make intricate organic patterns. The blouse is secured with 3 to 5 elaborate, jewel-encrusted pins.

The fitted shape with the long front is typical. It certainly emphasised the wearer's main role in life - to produce heirs.

However, when the woman turns 60, after 5 cycles through the Chinese horoscope, she refits her wardrobe with simpler more boxy garments usually made in heavier more opaque fabrics. 

The under garment has a starched raised collar like the stay of a men's shirt and it is held together with gold studs as found on 19th century western men's formal wear. This shift to clothing elements normally worn by males is interesting. In this matriarchal society, as she ages and becomes a grandmother the woman's role changes from child bearer to being head of her family.  

She still wears her costly pins, kersang, to show her family's position in society. The Nyonya line began with a Malay born woman who owned the land and passed ownership on to her daughters, giving them long-lasting and legal authority. At the same time, the Chinese-born immigrant Baba set up the business and if  he was successful brought wealth to the family - a powerful combination.

A 1930s matron's/grandmother's over garment made from apple green embroidered flowers on lavender Swiss organdy. The 3 pins are circles covered with gold and rubies.

The starched collar of the under garment has gold studs.

A Nyonya Matriarch

The wealthy Nyonyas were expected to master the skills essential for finding a good husband - an effective beauty regime, how to behave in public, and how to run a household. 

Above is a painting on the side of a Georgetown building of 3 Nyonyas having afternoon tea.

In several museums, I did notice it seemed pretty important also to learn how to master bead embroidery because one was expected to make one's own bridal shoes.

Here is a mother teaching her daughter to bead. The daughter's unmarried status is evident by her side-buns hair style. Her married mother wears her hair in a single high bun. Gold, silver and jewelled hair pins, Cucuk Sanggul, are worn in the buns. 

Bead-embroidered shoe fronts still in the frame.

A pair of velvet beaded bridal shoes, embroidered with phoenixes and peonies, made sometime before the 1930s.

A pair of beaded pink and green check bridal shoes made in the 1920s or 1930s. 

This culture was very open to new ideas and trends. Trade ships brought the latest commodities and luxuries from around the world and the wealthy travelled to other countries. Evidence of this can be seen in the Art Deco influenced design this modern bride worked on her beaded shoes compared with the more traditional floral design seen displayed under the shoes.

I must say my family was very patient as I absorbed and documented what we saw in the museums we visited. They would even come and find me if they saw something they thought I might be interested in. I am so fortunate to be fully supported by my family in what I do. 

Edge of the Forest Exhibition Arrives in Victoria, Canadian Surface Design Association

After working its way from Newfoundland and across Canada to places in between, the 'Edge of the Forest' exhibition has arrived on the west coast. 

Actually, the 54 works in 2 shipping crates arrived on the island a month or so ago and I have kept them in storage until today when they were loaded into the car to be taken to Coast Collective's new gallery in Colwood.

Barb McCaffrey - Hanging Team Member

The first task was to measure all of the hanging walls and do a bit of math to work out how to fit in all of the works without gaps, squishing or have work left over.

We laid white sheets on the floor then laid each work down as we unpacked the boxes.

Laura Feeleus - Hanging Team Member

Next, we moved works around to find the best arrangement for each wall.

We tried lots of different combinations until there was a consensus.

I think I am checking the lighting.

The view from one entrance door with labels up but lighting still to be adjusted.

The view from the internal entrance.

Anni Hunt's work beside the text panel.

This Surface Design Association exhibition by Canadian members is to open in the Coast Collective's new gallery in Colwood, just out of Victoria, on Vancouver Island.

It opens on March 23rd and there will be 2 receptions during the duration of the exhibition.

The first reception, on March 26th from 2 pm to 4 pm, celebrates the arrival and display of the current work by Canadian textile and fibre artists.

The second reception is private because it is part of the 3-day 'Gathering at the Edge' event where over 40 BC members of the Surface Design Association will come together to share and build their community. 18 of the 26 BC artists whose work is in the exhibition will be attending this reception.

I do hope if you live in this part of the world or are visiting at this time you can come and see the exhibition, attend one of the receptions and talk to the artists about their work.

For more info on the exhibition and details about every work visit the website Edge of the Forest

'Current Threads 2015: Garden Tapestry' Has Been Installed

Current Threads 2015: Garden Tapestry has been installed at South Shore Gallery, Sooke.

Here is the view as you walk into the Back Gallery.

The back wall

The lights haven't been adjusted yet but it was time to leave after spending all day installing the work.

The artists worked with the size restriction of 12" wide x 60" or 72" long.

The idea was to give a picket fence feel to the installation.

It appears to be currently a popular format to work in.

The artists also worked with a garden theme which they interpreted freely and widely.

There's my triptych on the left. 

Forest Flowers is about fungal flowering and fruiting bodies found in the forest.

It will be fun to meet up with lots of the artists at the opening reception, tomorrow, Saturday, March 5th, 1 - 3 pm,

Exhibition: Current Threads by Vancouver Island Surface Design Association

The annual Vancouver Island Surface Design Association exhibition Current Threads 2015 is travelling after its showing in Duncan last year.

Jessie Taylor-Dodds' gallery South Shore Gallery, in Sooke, is hosting the exhibition.

This is a great chance to view this juried collection of recent work by VISDA members.

Many of the artists will be at the Opening Reception.

Do hope you can make it.

Etsy Ravenmadeworks - Mola Pillows

Ravenmadeworks

I have made a series of pillow covers using refreshed vintage molas and put them in my Etsy shop Ravenmade Works.

Molas are the embroidery of the Cuna Indians of Panama. They live on the San Blas Islands on the Atlantic side of Panama.

This well-worn mola (above) is a relatively simple design with strong mirror symmetry, all features of older traditional work.

The back shows the ground fabric has been made from 3 different fabrics pieced together and they have faded at different rates.

The front view of the 3 different red fabrics making up the ground. 

Orange then black fabric were layered on top of the red ground then the 3 layers were basted together. Smaller pieces of different coloured fabric were inserted into specific areas according to the design - see the green and white areas above. 

The design was drawn or traced onto the top most layer then basted with thread along the design lines. The top layer was cut about 1/8" on each side of the line before the cut edges were folded under. The folded edges were hand creased then the edges were hand stitched down. It is an embroidery technique known as reverse applique or cut back applique.

The traditional designs evolved from elaborate body painting and reflected things observed in the environment. 

This mola has inserts of printed cloth most likely acquired by trade or from visitors to the islands.

'Mola' means blouse and they were made in pairs - two identically designed rectangular pieces, one for the front and one for the back of the blouse. The horizontal line denotes the top of the panel, often accentuated with rick rack.

The above mola is more complex in design and detail and has many different inserts suggesting it was made for the tourist market. 

The back shows the density of the hand stitching necessary to execute a more complex design.

The purple strip at the top was likely the fabric the mola was attached to to make the yoke of the blouse.

It was very popular in the 60s and 70s for travellers passing through the island archipelago to buy molas. Women would sell their worn blouses and make new ones to wear. 

Today most mola production is for the tourist market generating valuable income families have become dependent on. Many contemporary molas are made in a wide variety of sizes, are often simpler, as above, or more complex to get higher prices and are brighter in colour. They are incorporated into clothing and home decor items to add value to the product.

Traditional Mola Blouse worn by a San Blas woman.

'Forest Flowers 3' in VISDA Current Threads 2015: Garden Tapestry Exhibition

"Forest Flowers 3"

Here is my entry in the VISDA Current Threads 2015: Garden Tapestry exhibition.

Triptychs were accepted as long as each panel fit the specified size.

The first step in the making process was to dye a well worn bed sheet with a number of different coloured earth dyes.

Small torn squares of cloth were wrapped around different sized beans and secured.

The bundles were dyed with earth dyes.

Stitching on these squares became my portable sewing project for a couple of weeks.

Two more bed sheets were dyed with earth dyes.

Different fabric paint colours were trialed on the first bed sheet.

Another layer was added with motifs screen printed with fabric paint.

The hand stitched squares were pinned then moved around to find the right placement.

The three bed sheets were torn into strips, layered and the small squares pinned on the top sheet again. 

I decided it needed more squares.

Once their placement was confirmed the small squares were hand stitched in place.

It was a most enjoyable project to work on.

"Forest Flowers 3" is about the role mycorrhizal fungi play in the wellbeing of a forest ecosystem. 

The screen printed motifs are drawings of computer generated models of the fungi's growth patterns.  

Mushrooms are the fungi's flowers and they are the stitched and appliqued pieces of cloth.

The viewpoint is one where the viewer is in the soil looking up, much like an earthworm's view of the world. The idea is we humans need to shift our way of seeing the natural world if we are to become less invasive and destructive.

VISDA Current Threads 2015: Garden Tapestry

I want to make another post about the Vancouver Island Surface Design Association's current exhibition because every work is such an excellent example of  the many techniques fibre artist's have to work with.

The above detail is Linda Elias's "Beet Harvest" where she used actual beets and leaves on a Gelli-plate to print on the cotton fabric and she added a layer of stamping. She backed the cotton with a hand woven wool cloth and machine stitched into the layers before adding hand stitching and beading.

Linda's expression of the excitement in bringing in a plentiful harvest moved someone because they bought the work even before the official opening. Congratulations Linda.

Lori Mudrie's "Thistles and Lace" (detail) has to be seen to be fully appreciated. This work is much fresher and softer looking than what you see in this poor image. What you are looking at are all fibres and fine thread. She needle felted a variety of different rovings blending the colours in a painterly way then she incorporated hand and machine stitching to catch the characteristic forms of thistles and Queen Anne's Lace.

Laura Feeleus's "Conservatory" (detail) shows a number of the different ways stitches can be used to attach items to a ground. On the right are dried rose petals trapped under hand-dyed silk. On the left is a vintage lace doily held in place with a layer of sheer silk and french knots. Elsewhere on the work are tree seeds and stones held in place by hand stitches.

Christine Fawcett's "Dawn's Delight" (detail) shows raised surfaces using a number of different techniques: furrowing, Kantha, and spot applique. Silk taffeta was dyed with avocado skins and eucalyptus bark using natural dyeing techniques.

Jo Ann Allan's "Medieval Garden" (detail) has many historical textile references going back to the European Middle Ages. It is also a showcase of exquisitely worked hand stitches, techniques that have been practiced for centuries: Hardanger, blackwork, casalguidi raised embroidery.  In other areas of the work, there are machine embroidered slips, a contemporary take on an Elizabethan technique for applying heavily embroidered pieces to a ground. The old and new have also been combined with a traditional linen ground fabric and an area of hand-made silk fusion fabric.

Jo Ann is the co-ordinator of this exhibition and has done an excellent job in organising the details and communicating them and the deadlines to all of the artists. The theme is gardens and Jo Ann began by sending members a 3-page list of ideas related to this theme which I am sure was a great source of inspiration for many of the works in this exhibition.

The exhibition is on for another week, ending November 10th.

I do hope you can go and see this exhibition if you haven't already done so.