Afro-Dit
Weavings and Wood: Introduction to Tribal Arts from Southeast Asia to West Africa
Resources and Sources of Information
Periodicals:
The World of Tribal Arts A well produced magazine devoted to tribal arts,
founded in 1994.
African Art Magazine devoted to the arts of Africa. Writing tends
toward the dull and academic, but it's still a necessity for anyone who
collects African art.
Hali Slick, very high quality periodical on textile arts.
Pricey, but every rug collector must have it.
Ghereh Up-and-coming periodical on textile arts.
Books:
M. Eiland. Oriental Rugs. A New Comprehensive Guide.
4th ed. By general
agreement, the best single book on the broad topic of oriental rugs.
T.
Phillips. Africa. The Art
of a Continent.
Outstanding survey of African art.
M. Gittenger and H. Lefferts.
Textiles and the Tai
Experience in Southeast Asia. The best source on Laotian and Cambodian textiles.
U. Jourdan, Oriental Rugs,
Vol. 5, Turkoman,
Probably the best overall reference work on Turkoman weavings, with excellent
illustrations.
L. Mackie and J. Thompson, Turkmen Tribal Carpets and Traditions. A standard reference work on Turkoman
weavings, with excellent examples and quite good color reproduction. Less
breadth of coverage than Jourdan's book.
Web sites:
Turkotek. A site with broad-ranging coverage of matters related
to textiles, with emphasis on tribal weavings from the area ranging from Turkey
to Central Asia. It includes a journal, active discussion forums, and links to
virtually every worthwhile related site.
Art and
Life in Africa. A
comprehensive source on African art, produced by the University of Iowa.
Other
Resources:
Auction Previews
A good way to see and
handle fairly large numbers of high quality tribal art objects is to attend a
preview of a sale at one of the major auction houses. Sotheby's (New York)
holds 3 or 4 sales of oriental textiles and one or two of African and Oceanic
arts each year. This may be New York's best kept secret. Anyone can attend the
previews (which typically run for about 5 days and always include one full
weekend), and is permitted to examine museum quality pieces by eye and hand.
The gallery is spacious and comfortable, the staff is helpful and knowledgable,
admission is free. Christie's (New York) and Skinner's (Boston) also hold
periodic sales of rugs and textiles, although Christies' offerings of tribal
textiles have not been very good for the past few years.
Museums The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts has outstanding African
art, much of it on permanent display. It also sponsors Friends of African and
African-American Art, a fairly active group. The African Art Museum in
Washington has an excellent collection and frequent exhibitions. The Textile
Museum in Washington offers lectures almost every Saturday morning, as well as
exhibitions that change frequently.