Every Fiber of Our Being: Textile Traditions, Ethnonationalism, and Exclusion

From the revival of ikat weaving as a national brand in Uzbekistan to the appropriation of embroidered folk costumes by extremist politicians in Eastern Europe, traditional textiles are often employed as effective visual representations of national identity. Premised on claims of authenticity and singularity, discourses surrounding such textiles frequently obscure the transnational, interracial, and interethnic cultural exchanges from which such traditions emerged. With the global rise in identitarianism, this panel aims to explore the historical and contemporary uses of traditional textiles in edifying or polemicising ethnonationalist narratives.

What distortions have textile traditions been subjected to in order to serve exclusionary identity politics? Are current nationalist interpretations of these textiles rooted in prior historical misreadings? How do local communities of craftworkers position themselves with regards to homogenous representations of national identity? How do ethnic minority groups perceive shared textile traditions that are harnessed as nationalist tropes? Is the efficacy and proliferation of these tropes further ensured by diasporic communities?

This session invites submissions for 20-minute papers from scholars working on diverse geographical contexts and historical periods.

Submit your Paper via this form. Please download, complete and send it directly to the Session Convenor(s) below by Sunday 2 November 2025:

Smaranda Ciubotaru, The Courtauld Institute of Art, SCiubotaru@Courtauld.ac.uk