Lecture in Los Angeles: "The Tentmakers of Cairo, and Egyptian Tentmaker Appliqué in American Collections"

with Prof. Samuel Bowker, Senior Lecturer in Art History, and Visual Culture, Author and Curator, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, Australia,

10 a.m., Saturday, November 16, 2019.

Sponsored by Textile Museum Associates of Southern California, Inc.

In the crowded center of historic Cairo lies a covered market with wonderful textiles sewn by hand in brilliant colors and intricate patterns. This is the Street of the Tentmakers, the home of the spectacular cotton-on-canvas Egyptian appliqué technique art known as khayamiya.

Their breathtaking urban pavilions connect the splendor of the Fatimids and Mamluks, the cut-outs of Henri Matisse, and the souvenirs of world wars. a co-author of the book "The Tentmakers of Cairo," Prof. Sam Bowker brings together the stories of the tentmakers and their extraordinary creations, from the huge tent pavilions, or suradiq, of the streets of Egypt, to the souvenirs of w w i.

Tracing the origins and aesthetics of these textiles, Prof. Bowker will explore the ways in which they challenged conventions, and continue to preserve a skilled handicraft in an age of mass production. Their history survives through the legacies of American tourists and art collectors. Blending illustrations and real examples, this presentation surveys historic and contemporary khayamiya so that new examples may be discovered.

Dr. Sam Bowker is a Senior Lecturer in Art History and Visual Culture for Charles Sturt University, Australia. His research since 2012 has focused on the history of the Tentmakers of Cairo and the textile art of 'khayamiya' (Egyptian Tentmaker applique). He and Seif El Rashidi co-authored 'The Tentmakers of Cairo: Egypt's Medieval and Modern Applique Craft ' for the American University in Cairo Press (2018), and he also curated the survey exhibition 'Khayamiya: Khedival to Contemporary' for the Islamic Art Museum Malaysia (2015-2016). He has served as a scholar-in-residence for the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art (2015), a travelling fellow for the Hamid Bin Khalifa symposium (2017), and he teaches Australia's only university subject on Islamic art and design, which has won awards for its innovative and empathic pedagogical principles. Dr. Bowker invites tma/sc members to bring examples of Egyptian applique for show & tell following the program.

This program is supported by an Acor Overseas Speaker Travel Grant.

10 a.m. Refreshments / 10:30 a.m. Annual Meeting of Tma members / 10:40 a.m. Program.

Luther Hall, Lower Level St. Bede’s Episcopal Church, 3590 Grand View Blvd. Los Angeles, ca 90066-1904.

South of the 10 freeway, and west of the 405, near the intersection of Centinela and Palms.

Free parking.

*Admission: Tma/Sc Members Gratis . . . . . Guests $10

*Reservations for guests only: info@tmasc.org by Wednesday, November 13.