WSU News Archive

By Kelly Nemmers, College of Liberal Arts intern

'The silk ikat (right) was a personal favorite,' Tolmacheva said. 'A dressmaker in Leningrad (now St.Petersburg) made it for me from the silk piece purchased by my father (I think in Tajikistan) in the early 1960s.'

PULLMAN - Textiles from all over the world are on display through Nov. 18 in the Museum of Anthropology, thanks to generous donations from WSU history professor Marina Tolmacheva to the museum and the historic costume collection in the Department of Apparel, Merchandising, Design and Textiles (AMDT).

 

The goal of the exhibit, “Travels of a Professor,” is to educate the public about unique parts of the world and their traditional dress.

 

The free public exhibit is in College Hall, room 110. Hours are 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Friday.

 

“Dr. Tolmacheva acquired the pieces through her travels to countries such as Russia, Egypt, Tunisia and Syria,” said Linda Bradley, an AMDT professor whose Costume Museum Management class organized the exhibit. It includes 20 pieces of men’s, women’s and children’s clothing from the AMDT collection and artifacts such as Indian masks and Russian nesting dolls from the anthropology museum.

Time markers
Tolmacheva’s research focuses on medieval Arab history and Islamic civilization, and she has published on Muslim women and Islamic historiography of Africa and Central Asia. She donated her personal textiles to help students gain vital awareness of other cultures.

 

“These pieces are like time markers: this is what is or was common just a few decades ago among the people of the region,” Tolmacheva said. “No piece is singular in itself. They are very representative of broad culture because they were affordable, wearable, everyday kinds of things.”

 

Working together
The exhibit was made possible through collaboration between the AMDT and anthropology departments.

 

“This is the first time we’ve collaborated with the anthropology museum on an exhibit,” Bradley said. “By working together, using items from both collections and mounting the exhibit in their space, it’s been a great experience. We’ve learned to build on each other’s strengths, which is surely necessary when other resources are limited.”

 

 “This pink pajama outfit was acquired in Egypt (I think in Luxor),” Tolmacheva said. “The cord design at the bottom of the collar slit is reminiscent of Berber designs. The Berbers live mostly from Libya westward and in the Sahara.

 

'This pink pajama outfit was acquired in Egypt,' Tolmacheva said. 'The cord design at the bottom of the collar slit is reminiscent of Berber designs. The Berbers live mostly from Libya westward and in the Sahara.' Student Sarah Moriguchi helps set up the display.

Five students each worked for weeks and put in more than 25 hours to build the exhibit.

 

“Our goal is for them to learn how to tell a story or teach a concept in a visual manner, since so much of communication today is nonverbal,” Bradley said. “In addition, they are learning how to do research on material culture.”

 

Traditional culture changing
In doing so, students came to understand and appreciate the importance of collecting material culture, such as traditional dress, while it is still around.

“This is a fragile situation since much of the world is westernizing and giving up their traditional dress,” Bradley said.

 

Tolmacheva agreed: “Market forces and consumer demand change material culture - get out there and see it before traditional culture is gone or changed forever.”

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