A Thread Learns a Pattern
A loom, a cocoon and a patterned surface give China National Silk Museum a story that reaches well beyond Hangzhou.
China National Silk Museum
From a cocoon to a patterned surface.
Near West Lake's southern side, China National Silk Museum makes cloth easier to read. Its collections and exhibitions connect silkworms and cocoons with reeling, dyeing, weaving, clothing and the care of fragile textiles. A pattern may begin inside the structure of a loom, rather than arrive afterwards as embroidery. Hangzhou provides an introduction to skills shared across regions, and to textiles that travelled between them.
A short introduction
A closer look
A short introduction
Follow the material
A Cloth Learns to Be Blue
At Wuzhen’s indigo workshop, a pattern takes shape by keeping parts of the cloth away from the dye.
A short introduction
A thread beyond this place
A short introduction
A place to begin
A length of cloth connects living materials, skilled hands and places of exchange. This short introduction opens that thread without turning every textile tradition into the same story.
Photo credits and rights
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China National Silk Museum in Hangzhou, photographed in November 2017.Siyuwj · CC BY-SA 4.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗ Resized; WebP conversion.