blanket <Textiles>

The woven carpet was made by the Navajo, who live in the arid regions of the North American Southwest. In Navajo cosmology, Diyin Dine'é, "the Holy People", ascended to the surface through twelve sub-worlds, where they created the first humans, the ancestors of the Navajo, and gave them all the things of life. Religious representations had to follow certain stylistic guidelines. The figures are composed of fixed geometric shapes. Each shape and colour has a symbolic message: the angular heads, for example, indicate that they are female deities. Colours can also indicate gender, as well as special powers and characteristics of a being. The faces wear masks - a must for all anthropomorphically depicted Navajo figures. Bands hang down from the wrists and elbows, symbolising rain and fertility. Deities and "holy people" were originally only allowed to be depicted by shamans in sand pictures and were part of various ceremonies relating to health, happiness and success of the individual. Before sunset the sand painting had to be destroyed. The Navajo only began weaving at the beginning of the 18th century, after adopting the weaving frame from the neighbouring pueblo groups. Their traditional style - blankets with colourful, exclusively geometric patterns - adapted to the demand of European dealers and collectors towards the end of the 19th century: from then on, carpets featuring figural motifs were woven. From the 20th century onwards, the Navajo transferred religious motifs from sand paintings to weaving. Author: Heike Gerlach, Translation: Timothy Connell