A Language of Textiles: Exploration of a Miao Jacket from Southwest China

Abstract

In recent years, textiles of the Miao in Southwest China have become widely known and appreciated by many outside the region for their exuberant decorative qualities. Through investigation of a single Miao textile in The Textile Museum's collections, this brief article explores a deeper dialogue of cultural communication among the Miao that is embedded within textile itself. Consideration of the individual elements of this textile, a jacket, reveals interplay of cultural tradition and individual expression not readily apparent to the nonMiao viewer.