Cataloguing the textile collection

As regular readers of the blog will know the textile collection is in the process of being correctly stored and researched, thanks to volunteers.

Some real treasures are being unearthed while this work is going on and one of those is a hunger cloth by the charity Misereor.

In 1976 Misereor reinvigorated the “Poor Man’s Bible”, the tradition of creating Lenten cloths that depicted stories from Old and New Testaments. The cloths were used from medieval times to hide the altar of a church before being removed during Holy Week. Working with artists from Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe, the organisation commissions an art work every two years that reflects pressing social issues, opening up conversations between cultures through that art.

In 1976 the first artist ever commissioned by Misereor was Jyoti Sahi, described as “one of the most important Christian artists of modern India. Sahi used both Christian and Hindu imagery to communicate the death and resurrection of Christ in rich colour and detail. The piece in the collection is this one of these cloths. It was purchased in the UK, and was bought at auction. There was no information with it but it is excellent condition and looks like it has never been used.

To see all the cloths, including this one, click on this link to a pdf file. There is a chronological list and a photograph of each textile since 1976. This link explains more about this particular piece.