Textile: Applique Introduction
Applique Textile PageTibetan and Himalayan appliqué textile art is a traditional craft primarily associated with religious depictions, displays and rituals. Textile arts are most common to the Himalayan regions of Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal, Northern India, and Mongolia (under the Buddhist cultural sway of those true Himalayan regions).
Appliqué has three main types: scrollwork (tangkas), giant scrollwork and decorative. The most well-known forms are the two types of scrollwork which are simply textile versions of Himalayan and Tibetan painting common to the Buddhist and Bon religious traditions.
1. Scrollwork Appliqué (tangkas)
2. Giant Scrollwork Appliqué
3. Decorative Appliqué
Appliqué is a technique that involves sewing smaller pieces of fabric onto a larger piece to create either figurative compositions or decorative designs. The more detailed portions are created in sections and later stitched onto a base layer. For very detailed works embroidered sections are often added.
Traditionally, Himalayan appliqué utilizes brightly coloured cloth of various types. Precious gems, pearls and gold thread can also be added for particularly important religious or ceremonial textiles.
Many of the subjects of the textiles are deeply symbolic, with motifs and images derived from religious iconography. Typical subjects are the same as for scrollwork paintings: buddhas, deities, teachers, mandalas, and various other topics such as pilgrimage sites, offering objects, astrological charts, and the like.
The third principal application for appliqué works is basically decorative, non-religious but in support of religious rituals. The technique is commonly used for making ceremonial or domestic picnic tents, wall and pillar banners, and ritual hats such as the lotus cap or black hat worn by Nyingma and Kagyu teachers. These items are commonly seen during religious festivals, processions, and ceremonies.
Beyond their religious significance, some of these artworks can also be considered as valuable cultural heritage objects. They showcase the region's history, beliefs, community projects and the artistic talents of its tailors and craftspeople.
Textiles are fragile, to a greater or lesser degree, depending on the materials used making preservation challenging. They are vulnerable to environmental factors such as kitchen and incense smoke, moisture, rodents and insects. When not displayed, the figurative scrollwork appliqués are rolled and placed in wooden boxes with lids. In the interest of preservation, museums, institutions, and private collectors often have very strict rules in the handling, lighting and display of such works.
Standard size appliqué textiles are not particularly expensive for the average person, family, or community, and often much more affordable than commissioning an artist to create a painting. Appliqué textile art can be both affordable handicraft as well as artistic masterworks found in the Potala Palace or the great art museums of the world which highlights through textiles the spiritual and cultural worlds of the Tibetan and Himalayan regions and people.
Shinzo Shiratori, 8-2023
Liberation through sensory encounters in Tibetan Buddhist practice. James Gentry. Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines, no. 50. 2019.
(The images below are only a selection of examples from the links above).
