Overview

"Portable and practical, tough and colourful, Bedouin textiles played until recent times a vital and functional part in the life of the Arab nomads. Bedouin women were expected to master the art of making entire tents as well as a wide range of rugs, saddlebags and other equipment able to withstand the rigours of the desert. They took a fierce pride in their work and produced, on the simplest ground looms, textiles that were at once hard-wearing and of vibrant aesthetic appeal. The true craftspeople of the desert, Bedouin women wove to provide the very fabric of day-to-day living. Joy Hilden describes the weaving techniques of the Bedouin in the context of their transitional mode of life, as they adapt from their centuries-old nomadic existence to being both semi- and fully settled. She gathered her information on dyeing, spinning and weaving while living and travelling in Saudi Arabia between 1982 and 1994, extending her scope with trips to other parts of the Arabian Peninsula and adjacent Arab countries. She describes visits to Bedouin families, desert markets and urban centres where Bedouin gathered. Her work comes at a time when many tribal peoples are losing their cultural traditions and, with them, their crafts and the material of everyday life in the desert. This is the most exhaustive study to date of the weaving methods practised by the Bedouin of Saudi Arabia. Profusely illustrated, and giving thorough instruction in techniques, ""Bedouin Weaving"" is an essential companion for collectors and connoisseurs of flat-weave textiles, the category into which Bedouin weavings fall. It is aimed both at general readers and at weavers, craftspeople in general, students, ethnographers, and museum and textile authorities."

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9780955889400

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Reviews

There is a bitter-sweet quality to this book, describing as it does an ancient, beautiful and once essential traditional craft in probably terminal decline. Other books have covered similar ground to this one with regard to the Gulf But none, to my knowledge, describes the research process in such a charming and illuminating way, nor covers the weaving techniques in such instructive detail. - Shelagh Weir, The Middle East in London, October 2010 a book that simply oozes with the author's long standing passion for her subject. The book's many colourful photos testify to the effort that Joy Totah Hilden put into discovering the rapidly disappearing and often secret world of the Bedouin women, documenting them spinning, dyeing and weaving in a desert environment as they created their beautiful yet robust textiles. ... I really feel that with the aid of this book I could set up a ground loom, weave some of the warpfaced structures and embellish the result with genuine tassels and stitching. Very helpful appendices even contain pattern drafts. Fibre preparation and spinning the Bedouin way are also covered in considerable detail. This quality book had me in its thrall from start to finish as a completely compulsive read. -- Journal of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers, winter 2010.

There is a bitter-sweet quality to this book, describing as it does an ancient, beautiful and once essential traditional craft in probably terminal decline...Other books have covered similar ground to this one with regard to the Gulf...But none, to my knowledge, describes the research process in such a charming and illuminating way, nor covers the weaving techniques in such instructive detail. Shelagh Weir, The Middle East in London, October 2010

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