WEAVING EUROPE, CRAFTING THE MUSEUM : textiles, history and ethnography at the museum of... european cultures, berlin

Weaving Europe, Crafting the Museum explores the history and the changing material culture in Europe, through in-depth explorations of five textile objects; a weaving tool, a woven basket, a carpet, a waistcoat and a dress. Using textiles from a German museum (the Museum of European Cultures in Berlin) to tell their stories in wide-ranging chapters, the book locates fabrics as part of a kaleidoscopic story of textile cultures. Combining new archival research with ethnography, it proposes that textiles can be simultaneously used as the material object of research, and as a metaphorical device, a lens through which we can view museums. Each chapter focuses on one object story and can be read individually. Swooping from 19th-century wax figure cabinets, Nazi-era collections, Cold War exhibitions in East and West Berlin, and institutional reshuffling after German unification, it reveals the dramatically changing story of the museum and its collection. Based on research with museum curators, makers and users of the textiles in Italy and Germany, Poland and Romania, the book provides intimate insights into how objects are mobilised to very different social and political effects. It sheds new light on movements across borders, political uses of textiles by fascist and communist regimes, the objects’ fall into oblivion, as well as their heritage and tourist afterlives. Addressing this complex museum legacy, the book suggests new pathways to prefigure the future. Featuring new archival and ethnographic research, evocative examples and images, it is an essential read for students of textile and material culture, museum and curatorial studies as well as anyone interested in history, heritage and craft. Weaving Europe, Crafting the Museum explores the history and the changing material culture in Europe, through in-depth explorations of five textile objects; a weaving tool, a woven basket, a carpet, a waistcoat and a dress. Using textiles from a German museum (the Museum of European Cultures in Berlin) to tell their stories in wide-ranging chapters, the book locates fabrics as part of a kaleidoscopic story of textile cultures. Combining new archival research with ethnography, it proposes that textiles can be simultaneously used as the material object of research, and as a metaphorical device, a lens through which we can view museums. The book’s chronological organization reflects the developments of a 20th century museum in a dramatically changing Europe. Each chapter focuses on an object and a key historical period, and can be read individually. Swooping from 19th century curiosity cabinets, Nazi era and Cold War collections to contemporary transformations in Europe, it reveals the shifting, interconnected story of the museum and its textiles. Based on first-hand research with makers and users of fabrics in Italy and Germany, Poland and Romania, the book provides intimate insights into the past through textiles, exploring the ways in which they can be mobilised to very different social and political effects. This includes explorations of their movement across borders, their fall into oblivion, their political uses through time, as well as their heritage and tourist afterlives. Featuring new research, evocative examples and images, it is an essential read for scholars of textile culture, material culture and museum studies, as well as anyone interested in heritage and craft. Weaving Europe, Crafting the Museum delves into the history and the changing material culture in Europe through the stories of a basket, a carpet, a waistcoat, a uniform, and a dress. The focus on the objects from the collection of the Museum of European Cultures in Berlin offers an innovative and challenging way of understanding textile culture and museums. The book shows that textiles can be simultaneously used as the material object of research, and as a lens through which we can view museums. In doing so, the book fills a major gap by placing textile knowledge back into the museum. Each chapter focuses on one object story and can be read individually. Swooping from 19th-century wax figure cabinets, Nazi-era collections, Cold War exhibitions in East and West Berlin, and institutional reshuffling after German unification, it reveals the dramatically changing story of the museum and its collection. Based on research with museum curators, makers and users of the textiles in Italy and Germany, Poland and Romania, the book provides intimate insights into how objects are mobilised to very different social and political effects. It sheds new light on movements across borders, political uses of textiles by fascist and communist regimes, the objects' fall into oblivion, as well as their heritage and tourist afterlives. Addressing this complex museum legacy, the book suggests new pathways to prefigure the future. Featuring new archival and ethnographic research, evocative examples and images, it is an essential read for students of textile and material culture, museum and curatorial studies as well as anyone interested in history, heritage and craft. "Weaving Europe, Crafting the Museum delves into the history and the changing material culture in Europe through the stories of a basket, a carpet, a waistcoat, a uniform, and a dress. The focus on the objects from the collection of the Museum of European Cultures in Berlin offers an innovative and challenging way of understanding textile culture and museums. The book shows that textiles can be simultaneously used as the material object of research, and as a lens through which we can view museums. In doing so, the book fills a major gap by placing textile knowledge back into the museum. Each chapter focuses on one object story and can be read individually. Swooping from 19th-century wax figure cabinets, Nazi-era collections, Cold War exhibitions in East and West Berlin, and institutional reshuffling after German unification, it reveals the dramatically changing story of the museum and its collection. Based on research with museum curators, makers and users of the textiles in Italy and Germany, Poland and Romania, the book provides intimate insights into how objects are mobilised to very different social and political effects. It sheds new light on movements across borders, political uses of textiles by fascist and communist regimes, the objects' fall into oblivion, as well as their heritage and tourist afterlives. Addressing this complex museum legacy, the book suggests new pathways to prefigure the future."-- Provided by publisher Cover 1 Contents 6 List of illustrations 8 Acknowledgements 10 Abbreviations 12 Introduction 14 Textiles beyond the folkloric 17 Fieldwork trajectory 21 Textural ethnography 25 The problem of crafting collections 33 Outline of the book 35 1 Sample collection: Dreams and archives 38 Encounter 41 A place for the museum 43 Textile archives 49 World stage 52 Conclusion 54 2 Carpets: Knotted histories, recurrent patterns 56 Nationalist folklore 61 School and museum 64 Regained Territories 67 Post-war reconstruction 70 Truly Polish craft 73 Scraps 76 Recurrent patterns 81 Conclusion 84 3 Woven basket: Untethered art 86 Trader in exotica 88 Survivors 90 Waiting 96 Thread 100 Weaving on demand 101 Valuing work 106 Stubborn survival 110 4 Waistcoat: Colour and Cold War 118 Language island 121 Go West 126 Perforating the Iron Curtain? 130 Vestige 135 Conclusion 144 5 Cook’s uniform: Refashioning the social fabric 146 Renewal 148 Reorientation 154 Blue-collar museum 158 House ghosts 162 Costume/fashion 168 Conclusion 170 Conclusion: From unification to prefiguration 172 Collection reimagined 179 Other futures 186 Prefigurative collection 187 Conclusion 190 Notes 192 Bibliography 196 Index 218