Textiles for this World & Beyond: Southeast Asia--Treasures from Insular Southeast Asia

This lavishly illustrated book, published to accompany the exhibition Textiles for this World and Beyond: Treasures from Insular Southeast Asia at the Textile Museum, Washington DC, April 1, 2005 through September 18, 2005, presents a fascinating overview of the use of cloth, its function in society and the messages contained within colour, pattern and technique. Encompassing Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Indonesian and Malaysian societies, it describes how each share a common heritage by their extraordinary sense of the power of cloth: whether as a sign of benevolence from the gods to a ruler, a supreme honour to the dead, symbols of contractual alliances or as items of beauty and conceit. Within the South East Asian continent, the fine details of textile construction and usage weave a historical record of these societies. This beautifully designed and informative book reveals this legacy in a concise and fascinating way.