This exhibition is presented in the Donghia Costume and Textiles Gallery and the Rockefeller Asian Art Galleries
Designing Traditions highlights textile designs produced by RISD students in response to Asian textiles and clothing from the Museum’s collection. Curators in the Museum’s Costume and Textiles department, together with faculty in the School’s Textile Department, selected reference works that range widely in style and technique. This project springs in part from a desire to bring into the present the vision and contributions of collectors involved in the Museum’s early development, and to bring these donations into the sight of RISD students today.
Some of the first gifts to the RISD Museum were Asian textiles. These objects were regarded from the outset as a design resource for RISD students, and were first made accessible in 1907 in a textile study room created by Mrs. Eliza Radeke (president of RISD, 1913–1918; president of the Board of Trustees, 1918–1931). Stimulated by gifts from Mrs. Radeke, and by Lucy Truman Aldrich’s 1935 gift and 1955 bequest totaling more than 700 objects, the Asian costume and textile collection has grown steadily, and currently provides a wealth of material for exhibition and teaching purposes.
Innovative handmade, woven, knit, and computer-generated textile designs by the newest generation of RISD designers offer testimony to the creativity sparked by even the smallest details of traditional craftsmanship, and speak to a long tradition of fruitful exchanges between the Museum and the School.
Kate Irvin and Laurie Brewer Department of Costume and Textiles, RISD Museum
Participating faculty and classes, 2015: Anais Missakian (Design for Printed Textiles), Jesse Asjes (Knitted Fabrics and Knitting-Machine Techniques), Gina Gregorio (CAD in Textiles), Brooks Hagan (Jacquard for Pattern), Doug Johnston (Design for Printed Textiles), Lisa Scull (Computer-Interfaced Dobby), Joe Segal (Industrial Knitting)