The document summarizes the extended exhibition "Needles + Pins: Textiles and Tools" at the Museum of International Folk Art. It discusses a rare pre-Columbian gold needle from Bolivia on display and how pins and needles were precious before mass production. The exhibition features over 250 rare textiles made using tools like needles, looms, and stamps. It explores the relationship between human creativity and simple tools in creating dazzling textiles, and how the tools themselves can be works of art. The exhibition also allows visitors to try their hand at weaving and embroidery to understand how textiles have been produced throughout time.

1. E l P a l a c i o 65
A
needle may be one of the humblest items in sew-
ing kits, but the one on exhibit in Needles + Pins:
Textiles and Tools is no ordinary needle. It is a pre-
Columbian gold needle from Tiahuanaco, Bolivia, that
may have been used as pins and needles are today—for
weaving and wearing.
In another time, pins and needles were precious because they
weren't as easy to make as they are in this age of mass produc-
tion. Moreover, they had to serve multiple functions; they not
only secured clothing, they also secured one's place in society.
That they were important is evident in the elaborate cases and
holders that were created to hold them.
Rare and never-before-exhibited textiles made with the help
of the all-important needle—and also with spinning wheels,
looms, drinka stamps, and more—are on display in a second
installment of Needles+Pins:TextilesandTools, at the Museum of
International Folk Art. This popular exhibition, which opened
May 6, 2007, has been extended through January 4, 2009. For
the additional months, most of the textiles have been changed,
so the repeat visitor will have a new experience. The new exhi-
bition also takes another look at textiles and textile production
around the world. When human creativity and skill combine
with simple but adaptable tools, the results can be dazzling.
At times intricately carved or made of precious metal, the very
tools used to make textiles can also be works of art.
With selections from the museum's vast collection of more
than 20,000 textiles, Needles + Pins is equally about textiles and
the many processes developed to create them: weaving, embroi-
dery, sewing/needle arts, lace making, nonwoven textiles, print-
ing, and painting. The 250 textiles on display have come out of
storage for the first time, making this a unique opportunity to
see some of the museum’s more idiosyncratic holdings.
E l P a l a c i o 65
The creation of
textiles has inspired
human thought and
communication through-
out time. In ancient Greece the
Three Fates spun, wove, and cut
the thread of life, determining mortals’
destinies with spindle, loom, and blade. All
languages are rich in the metaphors and expres-
sions of textiles and their making. We talk of the
“fabric of life” and “the thread” of a story, of someone “cut
from whole cloth” and the act of “weaving together a commu-
nity.” To speak of something or someone “dyed in the wool” is to
acknowledge a true believer in his god, his beer, or his political party.
Many European fairy tales incorporate the act of spinning or weaving
to comment on woman’s role in society.
During the course of the extended exhibition, visitors inspired by
the various textiles and curious about the means of their creation are
able to try their hand at such activities as weaving and embroidery.
By doing so they will see that all textiles have been produced, embel-
lished, and constructed with tools that started out as simple exten-
sions of the human hand. Then came machines.
Even though the scale of making textiles and tools has changed,
the basic process and tools have not. Needles + Pins introduces many
variations of the tools developed over time and perfected by different
cultures. The variety of textiles and garments made with those tools
illustrate what’s possible when imagination and technology meet.
Needles + Pins: Textiles and Tools is at the Museum of International
Folk Art, in Santa Fe, through January 4, 2009. ■
Steve Cantrell is the public relations manager at
Museum Resources Division, Department of Cultural Affairs.
ON EXHIBIT
Tiahuanaco Ruins, Bolivia,
before 1000 ce, gold alloy.
David Thornburg Memorial Collection,
Museum of International Folk Art,
Department of Cultural Affairs.
NEEDLES+ PINS=
AN EXTENDED EXHIBITION
By Steve Cantrell