#multaka

This is a bridal dress called asherah hawak azdhaf . It's from #Egypt #Siwa and is part of the "Textiles from the Arab World" collection @Pitt Rivers Museum donated by Jenny Balfour-Paul.

Mother-of-pearl is valued for its attractive shine and protective properties.  In the Western Desert of Egypt, the women of Siwa Oasis use mother-of-pearl buttons called Tutintfukt in their embroidery. The Jenny Balfour-Paul Collection at the Pitt Rivers Museum includes many such beautifully decorated pieces.

The sun is a common motif in Siwan embroidery with Tutintfukt meaning “eye of the sun” being deliberately chosen for their iridescence. This capability to both absorb and reflect the sun’s rays is said to create a barrier of protective light over the wearer. Buttons are often arranged in sunburst patterns or clustered in groups of 3, 5 and 7 which are considered auspicious numbers.

The community have retained their traditional methods of embroidery due to Siwa’s remote location, flanked on all sides by desert. Nevertheless, the mother-of-pearl used has travelled great distances to reach them, from as far as the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean. Shells are traded by merchants along Trans-Saharan trade routes and later crafted into buttons by artisans.

Buttons are especially stitched into bridal clothes and wedding items such as the basket above. Mothers begin to collect materials for their daughter’s bridal outfit on her third birthday. Every button is checked meticulously during the selection process. Buttons must be bright white and free of blemishes or decolourisation. More recently, plastic buttons and sequins are also used as they are more readily available.

Louise Thandiwe Wilson, Multaka-Oxford Collections Officer 

This is a cap for women is called Gargush, its from #Yemen and is part of the "Textiles from the Arab World" collection Pitt Rivers Museum donated by Jenny Balfour-Paul.

This is a finger woven belt is from

#Egypt #Siwa and is part of the "Textiles from the Arab World" collection Pitt Rivers Museum donated by Jenny Balfour-Paul.

The exhibition ‘Connecting Threads’ curated by Multaka volunteers and featuring textiles from the Arab World ran from April 2019 until February 2020. Although the showcase had been deinstalled, students from Central Saint Martins Fashion History & Theory BA (University of the Arts London) managed to catch a last chance to view objects from the display at the Pitt Rivers Museum. Course Leader Cally Blackman and her students were keen to see the exhibition contents, speak to the Multaka volunteers who had curated the display and learn more about the Multaka project, in order to explore the possibility of creating similar approaches or projects in the future.

After an introduction to the Museum, Niran (who is one of the ‘Connecting Threads’ Multaka co-curators) and myself brought everyone into the Museum’s seminar room to view objects and labels from the display. We spoke about the Textiles from the Arab World Collection donated by Jenny Balfour-Paul, and how this collection had inspired the ‘Connecting Threads’ exhibition. Niran spoke about how she and the other Multaka volunteers worked with Museum staff. These are a few themes that came up:

1. Co-production

Experience and skills were shared between the Multaka volunteers and Museum staff involved in the exhibition team. This was an entirely collaborative project: volunteers were included at every step from initial development to design and to its launch. The team unanimously decided on everything including the choice of its star object, the beautiful coral and red silk embroidered dress from Syria.

"The Multaka Project demonstrated how such institutions like Pitt Rivers could be a connecting point for cultures and histories. The choice of objects was truly incredible, however through the multi-vocal, -lens, and -layer approach it made an even greater impact"

Central St Martins Student

2. Contextualisation

Objects were not presented in isolation: they were considered as both independent and part of a collection. Volunteers included Museum and personal objects producing many different narratives, with a common thread. The volunteers’ exhibition labels discussed everything from ethical collection acquisition and cultural practice, to production techniques and trade. This provided context, which enhanced the understanding of the collection and revealed the rich array of lenses through which we can understand objects.

3. Language

The exhibition team decided it was important to create a bilingual exhibition. Labels were written in both English and Arabic for our linguistically and culturally diverse visitors.

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Students particularly enjoyed speaking to Multaka our volunteer Niran about her experiences co-producing the exhibition. In her own words:

In February, Nicola (the manager of the project), Thandi (the collections officer) and I (as one of the five volunteers who had produced ‘Connecting Threads’) received eleven students from Central Saint Martins University of the Art in London with their professor to share with them our experience and how we produced it!! The students’questions were of a high level of understanding and knowledge, they asked with interest about all of the details such as:

What is the meaning of Multaka and in which language?

How did we get the objects?

The names of embroidered shapes on clothes?

Which cities and ages did the objects come from?

How long did it take to accomplish?

Finally, before they left, they said: we are hoping to do the same!! Here, I proudly realised that the exhibition ‘Connecting Threads’ has become a subject taught and the effort that we made will not stop, but will continue and keep achieving the goal of Multaka, which is the participation of different cultures everywhere and every event.

Louise Thandiwe Wilson, Multaka-Oxford Collections Officer 

Image: ©Pitt Rivers Museum, Jenny Balfour-Paul Collection