This course will provide a broad historical introduction to textile arts in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, the Americas and Australia. Contrasting the role and importance of textiles in Western and non-Western societies, the course will examine textiles in court and village cultures, as symbols and markers of religious and social affiliations and hierarchy; the impact of colonialism, trade and industrialisation on the organisation of textile manufacture and traditional gender roles; and the evolution of textile motifs, designs, materials and technology. The history of textile collecting, display and analysis will also be studied.

1,500 word tutorial paper (30%), 2,500 word essay (50%) and Image test (20%).

Introduction to Art History ARTH1002 and Introduction to Modern Art ARTH1003 or permission of the Coordinator.

Barber, E J W, Women's Work - 20,000 Years of Textiles: Women, Cloth and Society in Early Times, Norton, New York, 1994

Maxwell, R, Textiles of Southeast Asia: Tradition, Trade and Transformation, Australian National Gallery/OUP, 1990

Parry, L, Textiles of the Arts and Crafts Movement, Thames and Hudson, New York, 1988