By Publicity Officer

ADFAS Narrabri is delighted to be making a return to its arts lecture series next Monday, November 8, at The Crossing Theatre.

With forced cancellations during the past three months, the committee is looking forward to a celebration of the last lecture scheduled for 2021, with speaker Dr Sam Bowker.

Sam Bowker is the senior lecturer in art history and visual culture at Charles Sturt University.

Beyond developing Australia’s leading ‘Islamic art and design’ subject for university students, he has curated diverse international exhibitions and published widely on the history of Khayamiya, an Egyptian tentmaker applique.

Sam will be revisiting trodden ground, as his mother Jenny Bowker presented a similar topic for ADFAS societies several years ago.

While Jenny’s perspective was focused on the present tentmakers, Sam’s perspective is focusing on researching the history of this spectacular craft.

With needles, scissors and thimbles, the tentmakers of Cairo sew spectacular walls of colour.

These ‘Khayamiya’ appliques are used to decorate the streets of Egypt, transforming public spaces into vibrant ceremonial pavilions.

They inspired the paper cut-outs of Henri Matisse, were collected as souvenirs by the Anzacs, and are now an endangered art form in Egypt.

To survive, it must be seen by audiences who appreciate the value of skilled hands, living heritage, and dazzling colour.

As many who have travelled to Egypt will attest, In the crowded centre of Cairo lies a covered market lined with these wonderful textiles sewn by hand in brilliant colours and intricate patterns.

The stories of the tentmakers and their extraordinary tents – from the huge tent pavilions of the streets of Egypt, to the souvenirs of the First World War and textile artworks are celebrated by quilters around the world.

We will be tracing the origins and aesthetics of the khayamiya textiles that enlivened the ceremonial tents of the Fatimid, Mamluk, and Ottoman dynasties, and still continue to preserve a legacy of skilled handcraft in an age of relentless mass production.

Sam’s presentation features unpublished archival photographs and actual textiles to showcase the transformations in Khayamiya over the past 150 years.

Displaying the history of the Tentmakers of Cairo is one way to sustain their future, and it gives Australians a rare opportunity to see Egypt’s most exhilarating form of street art.

This lecture reflects on how a new field in art history can emerge from pieces sewn together.

More information can be found on our Facebook and Instagram pages ADFAS Narrabri, and the classified advertisement in this issue.

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