Afghan jacket, made by a local tailor for May Schinasi, a Western woman living in Kabul, Afghanistan, 1960s-1970s (TRC 2024.0246).Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood, 23 February 2024
The three A’s (adopt, adapt, acknowledge) are an important aspect of the TRC, namely how people see, adopt and adapt clothing forms, techniques, patterns and so on, from other cultures and societies.
I have written on this subject before in a separate blog.
Adopting and adapting textile and garment aspects is a process that has been going on for thousands of years throughout the world, going north, south, east and west!
Silk and cotton chapan from Afghanistan, 1970s (TRC 2020.0218).The third A stands for a more modern twist, which the TRC wants to promote, namely the acknowledgement of the direct origin of the item, pattern or technique that has been copied.
The concept of the three A’s is a much more realistic (and natural) form of looking at the movement of objects, patterns and forms than is advocated by some who prefer to fence in all sorts of specific cultural characteristics.
They tend to regard any adoption and adaptation, especially by the Western world, with suspicion and even as a form of cultural appropriation or cultural heresy.
Blouse made in Kabul for a Western woman, with short sleeves and buttons on the back, but decorated with Kandahar-style whitework (khamak). Afghanistan, 1960s-1970s (TRC 2024.0223).Various objects in a recent donation of Afghan clothing and textiles reflect the first two A’s, but in a very different way and in a different direction from what is normally assumed.
May and Rolando Schinasi, who donated the textiles, lived in the Afghan capital Kabul in the 1960s and 1970s. Some of the garments, for example, were sewn in Kabul especially for May Schinasi.
There is a short-sleeved bodice made from a blue/green shot material (TRC 2024.0246).
The style of the collar, which is low and long and comes down the front of the garment in the form of a lapel, makes it very clear that it was based on a style of coat (chapan) traditionally worn in the north of the country (TRC 2020.0218), and made well-known many years later by the former Afghan president, Hamid Karzai.
Whitework embroidery on a Kandahar-style shirt, Afghanistan, 1960s-1970s (TRC 2016.1788).It would appear that in the 1960s-1970s a local tailor in Kabul had adapted this style of coat in order to make a jacket for a Western woman living in Kabul.
Another group of garments made for May Schinasi that reflect adaptations are some blouses (TRC 2024.0221-0226) that are decorated in the front with typical embroidery used for men’s tunics especially from Kandahar (the so-called khamak whitework; compare TRC 2016.1788).
Two of the blouses were fastened down the back (which is not typical for Afghan men’s wear), while two are fastened on the shoulders with buttons, which is known from local, men’s tunics.
The sleeves on May’s blouses include very short, mid-length and long forms, again a variety that is not typical for either traditional Afghan men or women’s garments, but is well-known for Western women’s blouses and dresses.
Cotton wrapper from Morocco, cut and designed in Afghan style, late 20th century (TRC 2024.0233).Then there is a group of embroidered wrappers used for covering small objects. These particular examples were sold by The Women’s Association, Kabul, who in doing so wanted to help local women with the production and sale of embroidered objects (TRC 2024.0228 – TRC 2024.0232). These wrappers were embroidered in the Kandahar style of embroidery, with buttonhole stitch and satin stitch.
But one example is different (TRC 2024.0233). It has the same shape and embroidery lay-out as the others, but the style of embroidery is not Afghan, and it was worked in a double running stitch (Holbein stitch), in mainly dark red, with details in yellow, orange, blue and green.
Cotton and silk wrapper from Afghanistan, 1960s-1970s (TRC 2024.0230).The stitches, the style of embroidery, the pattern and the choice of colours are typical for Berber embroidery from the Fes region of Morocco (see TRC 2010.0300), and atypical for Afghan work. The question is how did this form of wrapper come to Morocco?
It turns out that the cut and form of this type of wrapper was introduced in Morocco by a friend of May Schinasi who lived in Morocco for many years, and who had received from May an example of an Afghan wrapper. Adoption and adaptation...
I cannot stop here without referring to another piece of textile from Morocco, namely a kaftan now in the TRC collection (TRC 2001.0074), which was made from a Japanese obi. The obi dates from the 1950s, and the kaftan was bought in Morocco in the late 20th century!
All of this opens up some very interesting lines of thought and reflections on the movement of ideas and material culture!
Woman's kaftan from Morocco, made from a Japanese obi. Morocco, late 20th century (TRC 2001.0074).
