1. Weaving Cultures and Traditions
Woven Artwork
Weaving Cultures and Traditions

2. Weaving Cultures
American Indians – blankets and rugs

3. Navajo Woven Blankets and Rugs
Teec Nos Pos" (colorful, with very extensive patterns)
Two Gray Hills" (predominantly black and white, with traditional patterns)
Ganado" (red dominated patterns with black and white)

4. Weaving Cultures
Asian – carpets and clothing

6. Weaving Cultures
African kente cloth mosquito nets

7. Kente Cloth Symbolic meanings of the colors in Kente cloth:
black -- maturation, intensified spiritual energy
blue -- peacefulness, harmony and love
green -- vegetation, planting, harvesting, growth, spiritual renewal
gold -- royalty, wealth, high status, glory, spiritual purity
grey -- healing and cleansing rituals; associated with ash
maroon -- the color of mother earth; associated with healing
pink -- assoc. with the female essence of life; a mild, gentle aspect of red
purple -- assoc. with feminine aspects of life; usually worn by women
red -- political and spiritual moods; bloodshed; sacrificial rites and death.
silver -- serenity, purity, joy; assoc. with the moon
white -- purification, sanctification rites and festive occasions
yellow -- preciousness, royalty, wealth, fertility
Asante kente is identified by its dazzling, multicolored patterns of bright colors, geometric shapes and bold designs

8. Weaving Cultures
South American and Mexican tapestries and clothing

9. Weaving Cultures
Middle Eastern carpets and clothing

10. Persian carpets Kilims
The patterns are predominantly geometric and the most common layouts on Ardabil rugs are medallions, multiple connected diamond-shaped medallions, and all-over octagonal shapes.
Persian carpets
Hand weaving of Persian carpets and kilims have been an important element of the tribal crafts of many of the subregions of modern day Iran.

11. Weaving Cultures
Pacific people groups roofs, mats, hats, and clothing

12. Hawaiian Lauhala Weaving
Woven from leaves of the Hala tree.

13. Weaving Cultures
European tapestries, clothing, and blankets

14. Many uses of weaving Clothing Rugs Blankets Tapestries
Mosquito netting (tribes in the Amazon)

15. Textile Art Uses natural (plant, animal) fibers OR synthetic (manmade) fibers to make functional or decorative items. Weaving is a textile art.

16. Weaving Terms
WARP (vertical threads)
WEFT (filling threads)

17. Weaving History
Egyptians were weaving clothes using the flax fiber as early as 5000 BC.
Ancient Persians were weaving carpets dating back to 500 BC.
Textile weaving was a dominant craft among pre-contact tribes of the American southwest, using cotton dyed with pigments, in the early 1000s.
African people from Ghana and Ivory Coast have been weaving kente cloth made of silk since 1200s.
The Incas wove clothing and tapestries of fine wool in the 1400s.
Hawaiians and the peoples of the Pacific (Samoans, Figians, Marshall Islands) have been performing the ancient craft of luahala weaving using the leaves of the hala tree.