Memoires de Soie en Inde: La Ville de Kanchipuram et son art de Tissage

A cidade de Kanchipuram, no Estado de Tamilnadu, sul da Índia, é sinónimo de templos hindus, mas também do sari em seda. A migração de comunidades de tecelão para esta cidade começou durante o reinado da Dinastia Chola nos Séculos 8-13 d. C. Anteriormente, o pano de seda foi considerado como tecido dos Deuses e os tecelões satisfizeram as necessidades religiosas do templo da cidade. Paulatinamente, um tecido de seda torna-se, tanto um tecido dos "mortais", como dos Deuses, e houve um aumento da procura dos têxteis em seda, especialmente, do sari em seda. A particularidade dos tecelões de Kanchipuram reside na sua técnica complicada de tecelagem e nos ricos motivos que são uma expressão da paixão do tecelão. Nosso trabalho de investigação centra-se nas técnicas de tecelagem e no seu produto final - o sari - para destacar a sua singularidade. Neste contexto, quero propor um projecto de documentação dos motivos do sari, para ilustrar um dos principais meios de valorização desta tradição de tecelagem que remonta a vários séculos. RÉSUMÉ: La ville de Kanchipuram, située dans l'état du Tamilnadu, dans le sud de l'Inde, fait souvent écho aux temples hindous mais également au sari en soie. Les tisserands ont migré à l'époque Chola (850- 1279 ap.J.C.) pour répondre aux besoins religieux de la ville car au départ, la soie était un tissu destiné à I 'usage des dieux. Au fur et à mesure, la soie est devenue aussi bien un tissu destiné aux 'mortels' qu'aux dieux. Ces tisserands ont connu par la suite, une forte demande, plus particulierement, pour les saris en soie. La particularité des tisserands de la ville de Kanchipuram réside dans sa technique laborieuse de tissage et dans les motifs élaborés parle billet desquels s'exprime la passion du tisserand dans sa tâche. Le présent mémoire s'attache à la technique de tissage et à son produit final - le sari - pour mettre en valeur son unicité. Dans ce cadre, je propose un projet de documentation des motifs des saris pour illustrer un des vecteurs clés de valorisation de cette tradition de tissage qui remonte à plusieurs siecles. ABSTRACT: The city of Kanchipuram, located in the State of Tamilnadu in southern India, is synonymous with Hindu temples and silk saris. The migration of weaver communities to the city started during the Chola reign (81 131 centuries A.D). Early on, silk was considered the cloth of the gods and these weavers met the needs of the temple city by producing silk textiles for religious use. Gradually, silk became a cloth as much for the 'mortais' as for the gods and demand increased for silk textiles, especially saris. The importance of Kanchipuram weaving lies in its complex techniques and rich motifs as expressions of the. weaver’s passion. This text examines the weaving techniques popularly known as the korvai technique, as well as the saris produced using this technique. ln addition, it attempts to catalogue certain motifs woven into the saris as a first step in promoting and valorizing the cultural richness of an art dating back several centuries.

Simplified Chinese lacquer techniques and Nanban style decoration on Luso-Asian objects from the late sixteenth or early seventeenth centuries

The meeting of multiple cultures and their mutual influence during the Portuguese expansion in Asia led to the emergence of different types of fusion styles in objects commissioned by the settlers, merchants, and religious orders present in Portuguese India. The east-Asian lacquer coatings of modestly sized wooden objects of various types dating from the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries have been analyzed as part of the research for a doctoral thesis that aims to establish their cultural and geographical attribution within the context of the Getty Conservation Institute’s lacquer research project. Among the objects were three seventeenthcentury lacquered trays from Portuguese museums and private collections that had previously been classified as Japanese Nanban, Chinese or Ryukyuan lacquers or even as Indo-Portuguese artifacts. The materials and techniques that were identified show close similarities with Chinese techniques mentioned in historic accounts — the only existing Ming Chinese Treatise on lacquering Xiushi lu and the eighteenth-century memoirs of the Jesuit priest d’Incarville. These nearly 400-year-old artifacts are among the first lacquered objects commissioned by Europeans and probably the first of Chinese origin. Their detailed technical study contributes to international lacquer research and complements existing knowledge and perceptions of the lacquering processes that were applied in response to an early European demand for exotic items.