Ancient secrets of bags
| • | Island women speak out on handbags |
By Paula Rath
Advertiser Staff Writer
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It sounds like a riddle: What conceals and reveals? The answer: a handbag. Or, depending on your language and culture, a carrying bag, pouch, satchel, furoshiki, reticule, bilim, purse or pocketbook.
A handbag can conceal all sorts of secrets from the world. In fact, women are so protective of the contents of their handbags that men are afraid to invade them. Ask a husband, "Hey, honey, will you get the checkbook out of my handbag?" and the husband will inevitably bring her the entire bag for fear of placing his hand in that most secret satchel.
A handbag can also reveal a great deal about a person. In addition to the pleasure of the bag's aesthetic and the practicality of all that it can hold, a handbag can have multiple layers of meaning, helping define the person carrying it.
"More than just a container of necessities, bags are a microcosm of values, tensions, beliefs and conflicts of society. Hidden are tricks, secrets, rites, wealth and ceremony," curator Sara Oka, collection manager of textiles, wrote in her description of a show about bags of all sorts opening tomorrow at the Honolulu Academy of Arts.
The show, called "In the Bag" is comprised of 100 bags, purses and carrying cloths from 30 countries, including Bhutan, Mali, Peru, New Guinea and Iran. The collection spans 500 years. The bags range in size from a tiny European alms bag, just a few inches long, to a New Guinea string bag that's big enough to hold three babies.
Throughout history, Oka said, a seemingly simple handbag has been regarded as a:
Bags have clearly been cultural identifiers throughout the centuries and around the world, Oka explained. In China, for example, only the wealthy could afford spectacles, so a spectacle bag, which was hung off a belt, was a sign of affluence.
From Bhutan comes a bag that Oka describes as "the second monk's bag." It was carried empty but was a clear sign of his rank in the monastery and where the monk walked during processions.
In 18th-century Europe it was a sign of wealth if you carried a tiny bag. The tinier the bag, the higher the status. It was what you didn't have to carry that indicated you were a lady of leisure. The Academy exhibit spotlights several exquisite examples of intricate, delicate petit point, embroidery and mesh.
A bag also can indicate what you do for a living. Among the treasures in the gallery is an ikebana case containing ikebana knives and a clever little water sprinkler. There is also a tea ceremony bag containing a tiny fan and tissues in which to wrap the sweets.
Japanese wedding bags that tucked into kimono and Indian dowry bags that carried a bride's entire wealth also offer interesting insights into those cultures.
There are also baby carriers of various styles from Mali, New Guinea, China, Indonesia and a papoose carrier beautifully beaded by Native Americans.
Among the other treasures to be viewed are a Yoruba diviner's bag from Nigeria, a Taoist priest purse from China and an alms bag from Southern Europe.
Oka said that everyone seems to have a story to tell about a favorite handbag, so she is placing a sign-in book in the gallery. "I hope everyone will take the time to write a little anecdote about a bag that has meaning for them," she said.
The book is sure to reveal a little something about what we conceal in those bags of ours.
Reach Paula Rath at paularath@aol.com.
