Kashmiri shawls : presentation at Library of Congress

[Allen W Thrasher]

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
Asian Division and John W. Kluge Center 

Presents

Kluge Fellow
Chitralekha Zutshi
(Associate Professor of History, College of William and Mary)

in a Kashmiri shawl exhibit and lecture entitled


“Designed for Eternity”: Kashmiri Shawls in the Popular
Imagination

The Kashmiri shawl is considered an oriental textile par excellence
both in the West and in the country of its origin.  What are the
antecedents of this popular idea? How did the textile acquire this
status? This lecture accompanies Kashmiri shawls on their journey across
continents in the nineteenth century as they participated in global
discourses of sovereignty, luxury, authenticity, and beauty, to bring
alive the world of weavers, emperors, adventurers, and middle-class men
and women. Experience the delicate beauty and exquisite softness of
these textiles as you hear about their history.  

The lecture will be accompanied by a display shawls and of South Asian
materials from the Library of Congress collections in the Asian Reading
Room.



Tuesday-June 10, 2008
12:00pm, Asian Division Reading Room Foyer LJ-150
Jefferson Building
Library of Congress
Coordinator: Nuzhat Khatoon (202-707-2666 or nkha at loc.gov)