Meeting Announcement:

Tent Bands of Central Asia

with

Richard Isaacson

at

Pioneer Hall

1642 43^rd Avenue East, Seattle

In the Madison Park neighborhood

Thursday, January 24th, 2008, 6:30 PM

The trellis tent is a brilliant invention. It has made nomadic life possible across Central Asia for at least one and a half millennia. An important component of its construction is a woven tent band which girdles the lower part of the wooden roof struts. This critical engineering element provides the tension necessary to brace the roof dome against outward collapse under the load of heavy felts and the force of strong steppe winds. Beyond serving a utilitarian function, tent bands are often elaborately decorated. This talk will discuss the history of the tent, the role of tent bands, and include examples of tent bands made by different Central Asian peoples.

Richard Isaacson is a retired physicist. He has been active at the Textile Museum in Washington, DC, lecturing frequently and serving as a member of the Textile Museum Advisory Council since 2000. He most recently was Guest Curator and author of the exhibition catalog for Architectural Textiles: Tent Bands of Central Asia which was on view at the Textile Museum in 2007. In 2001, he was a Guest Curator for the exhibition From the Amu Darya to the Potomac: Central Asian Bags from Area Collections. He was a member of the local organizing committee for the 10th International Conference on Oriental Carpets, held in Washington, DC in 2003. He also served as the Exhibition Project Manager for the ICOC exhibition Treasures from the Museums of Uzbekistan, held at the Embassy of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Washington, DC. He has published articles in Oriental Rug Review and HALI magazine.

Meeting Schedule:

6:30 Mix and mingle. Announcements.

7:00 Richard Isaacson: Tent Bands of Central Asia

8:00 Show and tell – Bring anything you’d like to share with the group. Something from the nomadic cultures of Central Asia would be particularly appropriate.

Please note: This meeting is free to members, $5 at the door for guests.

Meeting Location and Directions:

Pioneer Hall is the home of the Pioneer Association of the State of Washington. See the map below. Parking is available on nearby streets.

From I-5 or 405, take 520 toward the University of Washington. From the Eastside, exit at Lake Washington Blvd and turn left off the bridge and right into the Arboretum. From I-5, take the first exit from 520, Montlake Boulevard. Go straight through the light, following the main road until you take a right into the Arboretum. Go through the Arboretum, turning left at the light, at Madison Street. Go about a mile, and turn right on E. Blaine Street. Go two blocks. Pioneer Hall is straight ahead.