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Permanent Exhibition

The Fabric of Life: Asian Textiles from the National Palace Museum Collection

Exhibition overview
Textiles are woven into the fabric of our lives, in clothing, everyday items, and home decor. This exhibition showcases select Asian textile artifacts from the Museum collection, organized around three themes: “Covering and Containing”, “Decorating and Identifying”, and “Protecting and Blessing”. These themes explore the textiles’ practical functions, social significance, and symbolic meanings, highlighting their diverse roles across time and space. This exhibition also features a learning zone that introduces basic fiber materials and crafting techniques through actual examples, enlarged illustrations, and tactile exhibits. In consideration of visually impaired audiences, a booklet with both regular text and Braille is provided. Additionally, the "Wedding Attire" section, aligned with the annual theme of the NPM Asian Art Festival, showcases wedding garments from across Asia to reveal ceremonial traditions as well as people’s wishes for a better life.

* Special thanks to the National Museum of Prehistory for generously loaning Taiwanese indigenous textile artifacts, which has greatly enriched the content of this exhibition.

I. Covering and Containing
Textiles are produced using various fibers and techniques, and serve multiple practical functions. They can be used to wrap the body, providing coverage and protection. They can also be employed to cover spaces, enhancing appearance and coziness, thereby creating a specific atmosphere. Moreover, they are capable of containing items, offering proper storage and convenience for carrying around.

II. Decorating and Identifying
Textiles often play an important role in decoration and identification within societies. Through the use of various materials, techniques, forms, colors, and patterns in fabrics and garments, people not only enhance their appearance and showcase their personal style and aesthetic taste, but also provide rich visual information that signifies the wearer’s social status and identity.

III. Protecting and Blessing
Across many cultures, textiles are imbued with spiritual symbolism and function. Some people believe that certain textiles possess magical powers, capable of warding off misfortune and illness, and safeguarding individuals as they pass through important stages of life, such as birth, coming of age, marriage, and death. In addition, the decorative patterns on textiles often carry auspicious meanings, representing blessings and hopes for a brighter future.

Wedding Attire: Okinawan
In modern Okinawan weddings, couples can choose between Western attire, traditional Japanese kimonos, and unique local traditional costumes. These outfits are inspired by the ancient ceremonial attire of the Ryukyu nobility. The colors and patterns of the costumes no longer signify social status but mark special occasions such as graduation photos or wedding banquets.
The groom typically wears a hachimachi hat and a wide-sleeved monochromatic robe, gathered in front with a broad belt. The bride’s hair is styled in a traditional Okinawan bun (karaji) adorned with a long hairpin (jiifaa). She wears a vibrant bingata-like robe, known for its colorful and elegant design, bringing a bright, warm island touch to the ensemble

Exhibition Information

Event Date Permanent Exhibition
Location 3F S304

Traffic Info

Uzbekistan / late 19th－early 20th century

Man's embroidered velvet robe (khalat or chapan)

This men’s khalat robe is made from luxurious red velvet and adorned with gold-thread embroidery in a floral arabesque pattern, highlighted with green velvet accents. The back features gold embroidery resembling cloud shoulder wrap designs, while the lining is exquisite red ikat silk. The cuffs, collar, front opening, and hem are edged with double-layered gold embroidery and a woven band called zhiak. The expensive materials and intricate decorations reflect the owner’s high socioeconomic status.

Uzbekistan / 19th century

Ikat robe (munisak)

This robe is made from vibrant silk-warp and cotton-weft ikat fabric, lined with red cotton printed with white flowers. Made exclusively for women, the munisak is an essential part of a Central Asian wedding dowry and has deep cultural significance. During the wedding, or in the days leading up to it, it can be draped over the bride’s head like a veil. In future celebrations, it is worn as formal attire. When the woman reaches the end of her life, the munisak is used to cover her coffin, accompanying her on her final journey.

Uzbekistan / late 19th－early 20th century

Ikat robe (khalat or chapan)

This robe is made from silk-warp and cotton-weft ikat fabric, featuring red-and-yellow circular patterns and red stripes from the warp threads. The inner lining near the edges, visible when worn, is trimmed with colorful striped bekasab fabric, while the rest is lined with tricolor plaid cotton. The sleeves are typically longer than arm-length, allowing them to be bunched up on the forearm or wrist, creating a unique volume and aesthetic.

Balkans, Ottoman dynasty/ 19th century

Woman’s sleeveless robe (pirpiri)

The pirpiri is a sleeveless robe traditionally worn by Albanian women within the Ottoman Empire. This particular red velvet robe has a structured fit and is lined with silk fabric that mimics ikat patterns. It is characterized by extensive metallic embroidery, with spiral decorations along the edges serving as visual highlights.

Balkans, Ottoman dynasty / late 19th -early 20th century

Woman' s robe (anterija)

This type of robe is a traditional garment worn by Albanian women in the Ottoman Empire. It features a narrow waist, a round neck, long sleeves, and a flared hem. Made of red velvet and adorned with gold thread embroidery, it has pockets at the waist. The decorative buttons on the front and cuffs are wrapped in gold thread and embellished with coral beads, a common element in traditional Balkan clothing.

Türkiye, Ottoman dynasty / late 19th－early 20th century

Embroidered towel

This type of linen towel was typically used by women in baths. The middle section features a looped pile for better absorption, while the ends are made of twill and embroidered with silk and gold thread in floral patterns. The soft colors and abundant gold thread give the towel an elegant look.
During the Ottoman Empire, public baths were one of the few social spaces women could frequent outside their homes. Baths also served as venues for celebrating important occasions, such as the pre-wedding bride’s bath ceremony. On these occasions, intricately embroidered towels and wooden clogs were essential accessories.

Turkmen / 19th century

Emboridered head-covering or mantle (chyrpy)

The chyrpy, ceremonial attire of Turkmen Tekke tribe women, is distinguished by two decorative false sleeves that hang from the back. During important ceremonies, women wear the chyrpy over their heads and shoulders to resemble a cloak or head covering.
These luxurious silk chyrpys are often adorned with embroidered geometric floral patterns, particularly tulips, which symbolize fertility and growth because they flourish on the spring steppes. Turkmen women’s social status is reflected in their attire: elderly women wear chyrpys with a white base, married and middle-aged women wear yellow, while unmarried and young women wear dark colors or black.

Tangkhul people, India–Myanmar border / 19th－20th century

Headdress and neck ornament (lahupa or ya-khat)

To the Tangkhul, a Naga tribe who live on the India-Myanmar border, the hornbill, with its tiger-like call, is the king of birds. Its feathers are highly prized and are used to adorn warriors. This warrior-only headdress features twelve black-and-white hornbill tail feathers arranged in a fan, each representing a Tangkhul ancestor. In the past, only decorated headhunters could wear this headdress, but today it is part of traditional male ceremonial attire.

Kerala, India/ late 19th－early 20th century

Ceremonial wooden carved headdress

This fan-shaped headdress, made from intricately carved wooden pieces and weighing about 4 kg, is used in local religious rituals in Kerala, India, and is known as Poothan and Thira. These rituals honor the goddess Bhadrakali. During the ceremony, the Thira (representing the goddess) wears this large headdress with an additional arc of colorful fabric. The Poothan (Shiva’s lieutenant) wears an exaggerated mask and vibrant clothing. Male dancers, representing these deities, perform energetic dances during the annual Pooram festival to bless the villagers and ward off evil spirits.

Uttar Pradesh, India / 19th century

Embroidered headdress

This Western-style crown headdress features a semicircular fabric cap, adorned with zardozi embroidery and ten arched metal frames. It was popular in the Avadh region (now Uttar Pradesh) of 19th-century India. Around 1820, as the Mughal court declined, the local nobility established independent states and adopted the symbolism of European crowns to signify their sovereignty, moving away from traditional headwear styles.

Coromandel Coast, India / late 18th– 19th century

Ceremonial cloth (kalamkari)

This nearly 6.7-m-long painted cloth in the NPM collection depicts the story of the Ramayana, one of India’s two great epics. The narrative unfolds from left to right in two rows, illustrating the hero Rama’s birth, training, wedding, exile, and life in the forest, and his adventure to rescue his wife. This compositional style may be traced back to early Indian temple carvings and is also seen in 18th-century murals from Tamil Nadu. This piece is believed to have been used as a religious offering or ceremonial hanging.

Sulawesi, Indonesia / early 20th century

Sacred ceremonial cloth (Mawa' or Maa')

This ceremonial cloth, known as maa or mawa', is a treasured textile of the Toraja people, highland residents of southwestern Sulawesi. It is possibly used during dedication ceremonies after the reconstruction of ancestral houses. The cloth features a batik depiction of a giant tree growing on a semicircular mound, a composition that may be inspired by the flowering tree motif on Indian palampore, while remaining firmly rooted in local culture. In Toraja tradition, trees are prominent in decorative art and are often associated with the world tree in creation myths. In this scene, figures beneath the tree use long poles to hook fruit, symbolizing the desire to acquire wealth and prosperity.