Hunting cloth (chireh), used in North Afghanistan to disguise the hunter. Afghanistan, mid-20th century. TRC 2016.1773As part of the 2017 Asia Year celebrations in Leiden, the Textile Research Centre is presenting a fascinating and colourful exhibition about textiles, dress and jewellery from Central Asia: the so-called ‘Stans’ (‘Land of…’), namely Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
The exhibition includes traditional textiles, garments and accessories for men, women and children, from all parts of this vast and relatively unknown part of the world. On display there are many items including ikats, velvets and embroideries from the ‘Stans’ in general. But there are also more specific items, such as Afghan chapans (the type of coat made famous by ex-President Hamid Karzai, and which he wore during his visit to Leiden in 2008), buzkashi apparel (used in the "goat-grabbing" game of Central Asia), as well as hunting hoods and cloths, used to 'hide' the hunter. From Uzbekistan there are examples of the famous suzani embroideries and ikat dresses and coats.
An important element of the exhibition is a beautiful collection of ethnic jewellery from among the Turkmen of Afghanistan, on special loan from May and Rolando Schinasi, who lived and worked in Afghanistan for many years prior to the start of the civil war in 1978.
A digital TRC exhibition on the same theme can be viewed here.
The exhibition has been sponsored by the Leiden University Central Asia Initiative.
The exhibition is open to the general public from 12th September until (and including) 21st December 2017.
