"Li Textiles of
Hainan:
Seeking the Source of
Austronesian Iconography"
with Thomas Murray
of Asiatica Ethnographica, San Francisco
The Li of Hainan Island (off the south coast of China) are categorized as one of
China's 55 ethnic minorities. They
are speakers of the Tai language group, making them most closely related to
peoples of mainland SE Asia like the Tai Lao and the Thai, but their iconography
is strongly Austronesian, more related to Indonesia. They
use a foot brace back strap loom, the most archaic known (very similar to the
Bronze Weaver acquired by the National Gallery of Australia in
recent years) and thought by them to be Early First Millennium, although this is
considered controversial by Dr Brown of LACMA.
The Li use embroidery, ikat and supplementary weft designs to great
effect, with many zoomorphic and anthropomorphic images prevailing.
Thomas Murray will offer an introduction to Li culture, history and
prehistory; a survey of the primary Li-dialects and their textile techniques and
styles; an analysis of Li costume motifs and their relation to the most
important of Indonesian textile iconography from Timor to Lampung; and the
revelation of his new insight into the "structure/iconography: what comes
first?" debate.
Thomas Murray is a well-known Indonesian Tribal Art dealer with a scholarly
bent. For 28 years he has supported
his independent research through the sale of tribal art and textiles with a
primary focus on
Indonesia; he has placed objects in
more than 30 museums on four continents. A
HALI Magazine Contributing Editor
with over 45 publications to his name, Murray has
lectured the world over, most recently at the ICOC Conference in Istanbul and at the
International Textile Conference at the Jakarta Museum Nasional on
“Ottoman Influences on Islamic Calligraphic Batik,” which he also presented
to TMA/SC members last year. He is
currently president of the Antique Tribal Art Dealers Association (ATADA), an
ethically based organization.