Planning¶
GANTT¶
I devided the project into 4 phases: research, prototyping, final pieces, performance. Each phase is color coded and can be seen in the following Gantt chart.
Bill of Materials¶
| Material | Price | Qunatity | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleeve 1: Yesterday | |||
| cotton thread size 10 | 30.00 $ | 600 grams | |
| onion skin | - | 30 grams | |
| Sleeve 2: Today | |||
| stiff satin fabric | 4.00 $ | 1 meters | |
| 2-way-stretch tulle | 3.00 $ | 1 meter | |
| white TPU filament | 0.30 $ | 10 grams (1.5 meters) | |
| Sleeve 3: Tomorrow | |||
| copper conductive fabric | 1.00 $ | 15*20cm | Amazon |
| silver conductive thread | 2.00 $ | 7 meters | Desertcart |
| stiff satin fabric | 4.00 $ | 1 meters | |
| metal chain and pendants | 5.00 $ | 1 meter/ 2 pendants | |
| Lilypad LEDs | 14.00 $ | 8 pieces | Amazon |
Research¶
It's been very difficult to find resources about Circassian motfifs. Generally speaking, Circassians are not very good at documenting. I heard this from a lot of Circassians. I found a couple of books at home about the genocide and the modern history, and one book that went deeper into the past lifestyle of Circassians and myths and legends. We had two visual books that documented Circassian embroidery but nothing about their meanings. Finally, I found one paper online about the meaning of the motifs.
Following are the resources I found most useful:
"Adiga yida" meaning Circassian sewing, is a mesmerizing book we had for some time. It has many images of Circassian embroidery, old and new, with beautiful closeups, and some illustrations of macrame and weaving techniques. It is written in Russian with some Circassian nouns.
This book has images of embroidery and clothes as well. Not as detailed as the previous one but beautiful nonetheless. It is also written in Russian. It has a section at the end for contemporary Circassian art, one of which is the Circassian Divas artwork.
I got this little book from a relative, Tahani, who is an architect. It is written in Turkish but has almost no text, rather a collection of motifs that are shown as silhouettes or outlines.
This is the most useful book about the Circassian culture I found on our bookshelves. Written by Nugzari Antelava. It is fun and interesting to read. It has details on the lifestyle of Circassians in the past, customs and traditions, and myths and legends.
a list of online resources I found useful
-
Motif meanings: The Adyghe ornament in the gold embroidery art
-
Circassian Costumes by Amjad Jamoukha, a well-known Circassian researcher
-
This paper shows Circassian ornaments on building facades
-
a collection of images in a Turkish blogpost
-
this paper is titled "ornamental symbols in the handicraft ethnoculture of Kabardino-Balkaria" but it doesn't have any images or useful data
Dress Sleeves¶
During the implications and applications week I was planning to make a "Shharkhuan", a Circassian hooded scarf, but Claudia loved these sleeves a lot so I sat down to rethink everything at the beginning of the year. I looked at pictures of scarfs and sleeves and realized the sleeves already look like story panels. I have to make sleeves.
Myths and Legends¶
Myths and legends are my favorite part of any culture. They give you insight about how people thought and lived their lives. And they offer imaginative stories and tales. In the Circassian culture, the "Nart Sagas" are the most famous legends. They are a collection of the adventures of several Circassian knights (Nart meaning knight). Some of the stories I like are about getting fire from the gods or stealing it from ghouls. It shows how sacred fire was for the Circassians.
Color theme¶
I collected some images to create a color palette. This was changed completely later on.
Feedback¶
Following are the feedbacks I got during the online sessions. There were some very helpful and inspiring insights.
January 31
Symbols and embroidery are a social construct and some symbols are not allowed to be worn by certain people. They divide the society into classses. It would be nice to talk about this, Who could wear what. Then say we will break this hierarchy and turn embroidery form a divider to a connector. Make a workshop to interpret the symbols together and resignify the symbols according to the society we need now. Codesign a new symbol to communicate a certain message.
February 12
I got these comments from Claudia and Emma during the mid presentation prova we did at the lab.
Explain about the Circassians more at the start. The motifs seem very repetitive, add animation maybe? Highlight parts of the sleeve design. Shorter motifs part and focus more on techniques and community. Explain about performance and digital library.
February 15
Midterm presentation
Malou: Create your own motif and pattern, maybe there is a symbol or a sign that is missing. Elements could evolve across times.
check paraprint.io
Each community member designs an element. design a collaborative motif that could be repeated. play with the qr code placement and visualization.
Comments I received in the chat: Rico Kanthatham: Maybe not 3 different sleeves? But one that transforms...get layered? The past informs the present...informs the future.
March 29
Final presentation!
Love that the past was "collaborative" - bridging generations. the techniques are cohesive.
You are a true story teller - for past present and future, intagible stories and heritage we are loosing as humanity.
The movie made us all emotional - triggering such feelings in a varied audienece is an incredible skill! cherish it and push it further!
Love the way you approached the language, and how you incorporated it in the sleeves for the different time frames
LOVE love love the community designs made during the workshop
Good job on the digital library of motifs, it's a very nice way to preserve them and make them available.
The video was amazing, it got me very emotional :')
Dear Ala' what a beautiful and meaningful work! Your approach of the traditional embroidery with post digital fabrication makes so much sense. As an embroiderer I was delighted to follow your project. Thank you for the emotions!
Ala', love the non language story from the beginning. The process of the making is clear enough with beauty and also the transmission of the values that are important for you are embeded in the whole project. The outcome at the end is like an artist piece and you are really doing a great job in preserving these part of your story in the future. Great. Congratulations!!
Fabricademy projects that inspire me