(2024)
a conjectural research about the instruments of seclusion,
through a process of unweaving.
an inquiry for the râwî latent in the threads of found fabrics.
and fragments of found objects,
decomposed and rearranged.
in an entropic abatement of light.
an isnâd through the concepts embodied in the.
spaces of illusion and counter-hegemony.
that echoe cultural standards and religious axioms.
the incorporeal no longer concealed in the effacing matter.
by coalescing it with other segregation devices,
incite a correlative reasoning of the elusive body.
contained within the abaya as an ambulatory heterotopy
and the liminality of a devoid room in a transitional hotel.
in Tunisia’s history of textile traditions, there’s a contrast between the rural and urban techniques that is linked to gender, apart from the location where they are produced.
in pastoral settings, women mainly use woollen yarn on upright, single-heddle looms, whereas men weavers, in the metropolitan environment, use treadle looms and a range of luxury yarns such as silk and metallic thread. this technological evolvement bears witness to the many centuries of cross-cultural exchange that are more expressive in the city. floor looms were brought to Tunisia by refugees from Christian persecution during the fifteenth century CE. patterned cloth was woven in this way in southern Portugal and Spain during the period of the Hispano-Mauresque civilization (X-XV).
the draw-looms, invented in the Iberian Peninsula, have supplementary heddles that would be drawn up by assistant weavers and are still used in Mahdia to weave a rare and intricate type of narrow silk strips. the influence of civilisations past is visible in the variety of textiles and weaving technologies used in different regions. the country’s textile heritage vibrates with a diversity that arises from the dichotomy of rural and urban areas, islands and desert, but always stems from gender segregation. the motifs used in the fabrics hold different interpretations and are linked to the occasion in which a garment is to be worn and the role each sex in expected to have. some patterns have symbolic significance, as they are designed to protect against the evil eye and diseases, while others are related to fertility and fecundity. certain textiles and garments, particularly in rural Tunisia, are not commercially produced as they are made specifically for domestic, ceremonial or ritual use.
how can a creative research about the textile production, in an also touristic city, represent a defiance to a domesticity exclusive to the household and be put in dialogue with the anonymity of an hotel room that paradoxically strives to replicate the realms of privacy in order to provide comfort and relatability? which connections can be established with the fact that women embroiderers work from home, as a complement to men’s activities taking place in communal workshops?
are the instruments of seclusion turning women into non-citizens, the same way oblivion turns neglected spaces into non-places? how does a derelict hotel located in the seaboard, whose windows became blind, fall into oblivion? intervening in it, (re)creating a device for privacy, increases its visibility?
approahing the liminality contained within thresholds — a shoreline, the horizon, an abaya, a mashrabiya —
allows the subversion of the interplay between the inner and outer realms.
a further exploration of the heterotopias that hotels represent would be grounded in the ambiguity of the seclusion they provide, in contrast with the privacy of the household in which the embroidered garments would be worn.
the heterotopy of entropy
from the metaphysical assumption that the physical Universe goes from order to disorder, dispersing and rearranging matter — dilluting confines. it is by decomposing that we create anew.
through a process of unweaving.
an inquiry for the râwî latent in the threads of found fabrics.
and fragments of found objects,
decomposed and rearranged.
in an entropic abatement of light.
an isnâd through the concepts embodied in the.
spaces of illusion and counter-hegemony.
that echoe cultural standards and religious axioms.
the incorporeal no longer concealed in the effacing matter.
by coalescing it with other segregation devices,
incite a correlative reasoning of the elusive body.
contained within the abaya as an ambulatory heterotopy
and the liminality of a devoid room in a transitional hotel.
in Tunisia’s history of textile traditions, there’s a contrast between the rural and urban techniques that is linked to gender, apart from the location where they are produced.
in pastoral settings, women mainly use woollen yarn on upright, single-heddle looms, whereas men weavers, in the metropolitan environment, use treadle looms and a range of luxury yarns such as silk and metallic thread. this technological evolvement bears witness to the many centuries of cross-cultural exchange that are more expressive in the city. floor looms were brought to Tunisia by refugees from Christian persecution during the fifteenth century CE. patterned cloth was woven in this way in southern Portugal and Spain during the period of the Hispano-Mauresque civilization (X-XV).
the draw-looms, invented in the Iberian Peninsula, have supplementary heddles that would be drawn up by assistant weavers and are still used in Mahdia to weave a rare and intricate type of narrow silk strips. the influence of civilisations past is visible in the variety of textiles and weaving technologies used in different regions. the country’s textile heritage vibrates with a diversity that arises from the dichotomy of rural and urban areas, islands and desert, but always stems from gender segregation. the motifs used in the fabrics hold different interpretations and are linked to the occasion in which a garment is to be worn and the role each sex in expected to have. some patterns have symbolic significance, as they are designed to protect against the evil eye and diseases, while others are related to fertility and fecundity. certain textiles and garments, particularly in rural Tunisia, are not commercially produced as they are made specifically for domestic, ceremonial or ritual use.
how can a creative research about the textile production, in an also touristic city, represent a defiance to a domesticity exclusive to the household and be put in dialogue with the anonymity of an hotel room that paradoxically strives to replicate the realms of privacy in order to provide comfort and relatability? which connections can be established with the fact that women embroiderers work from home, as a complement to men’s activities taking place in communal workshops?
are the instruments of seclusion turning women into non-citizens, the same way oblivion turns neglected spaces into non-places? how does a derelict hotel located in the seaboard, whose windows became blind, fall into oblivion? intervening in it, (re)creating a device for privacy, increases its visibility?
approahing the liminality contained within thresholds — a shoreline, the horizon, an abaya, a mashrabiya —
allows the subversion of the interplay between the inner and outer realms.
a further exploration of the heterotopias that hotels represent would be grounded in the ambiguity of the seclusion they provide, in contrast with the privacy of the household in which the embroidered garments would be worn.
from the metaphysical assumption that the physical Universe goes from order to disorder, dispersing and rearranging matter — dilluting confines. it is by decomposing that we create anew.
un—nour
(of luminance and obscurity)
a cogitation about our interference over the natural course of time when trying to impose order as we conceive it. either in a physical or a logical and doctrinal manner.
mashrabiya
an ornate veiled surface in Islamic homes, proudly facing the outside world whilst intentionally protecting those behind it
known in Tunisia as barmaqli,
also the designation given to the goldenwork embroideries in female garments.
also the designation given to the goldenwork embroideries in female garments.
.
gender • heterotopy • fiber art
objets trouvés • installation
objets trouvés • installation
