Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Printing Block



I tried to post the original picture od Khan Assad al Pasha yesterday but they would not load. This photo shows the large dome. Apparently the khan was built in the late 18th century or early 19th century. This Khan is very large with many rooms coming off the the central courtyard- it would have been a buzz of activity in days gone by- it is situated in the spice and apothecary souq in Damascus. These days it is used to host exhibitions or performances. The whirling dervishes we saw last year. It is only recently that the dervishes have bee allowed to whirl again in Damascus- it being outlawed for some time. It is quite mesmerising watching a dervish whirl and the music too, has a kind of pleasant frenzy to it. The dervishes were whirling on the occasion of the opening of an exhibition of photos of the dervishes and this particular man featured in quite a number of photos. Their faces acquire and almost angelic look, and their dresses are quite amazing.

The printing block is one I bought atthe small Textile Museum on the Boden Zee in Austria last year- I though it would make a great background for something. I have yet to try it as I only recently brought it back
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3 comments:

jude said...

that dome is amazing. i love the dervish photo too. i wonder if dance could be combined with dyeing, dervish cloth could be mighty beautiful. ha!

smarcoux said...

. love your building from syria nice work ... and extra cool stamp .. .... as for the twirling dervish.... fab ... I did see some in egypt as well ... I love them.

Sandy

Barbara Cheeseman said...

Hello Dijanne
I'm nominating you for a special award, as a blog "which brings you inspiration and make you appreciate the blogosphere!"
Sew1knit2 nominated me and i have to list 10 more blogs and let the writers know. So you may do the same if you like, but it is a bit time-consuming!
I love the imagery you use, the colours of the dyed fabrics and your machine stitching.