The Textile Society of America is pleased to announce the top three finalists for the 2025 R. L. Shep Memorial Book Award for books published in 2024. The award is given annually to the publication judged to be the best book of the year in the field of global cultural heritage textile studies. This year’s finalists are listed in alphabetical order by author: Cécile R. Ganteaume and Jennifer McLerran, editors, Sublime Light:Tapestry Art of DY Begay (The National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution, 2024); Andrew James Hamilton, The Royal Inca Tunic: A Biography of an Andean Masterpiece (Princeton University Press, 2024); Ekta Kaul, Kantha: Sustainable Textiles and Mindful Making (Herbert Press: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2024). By recognizing and rewarding exceptional scholarship that focuses on textiles through the lens of cultural practices and ancestral heritage, the award aims to encourage the study and understanding of global textile traditions.
The R. L. Shep Memorial Book Award Committee evaluated the nominated books based on the most successful balance of the two main criteria –bringing the highest standard of research and scholarship to a topic of significance to the field of global cultural heritage textile studies; and presenting its material in a manner that is accessible and engaging for the public as well as for textile scholars. This year’s selection committee members are Dr. Julia Hendon, Dr. Kaja McGowan, and Dr. Florina Capistrano-Baker (chair).
The judges serving on TSA’s R. L. Shep Memorial Book Award Committee are pleased to announce the shortlist of three titles for this year’s R. L. Shep Award, for books published in 2024, chosen from a list of fourteen books nominated by TSA members, publishers, and the general public earlier this year.
The books represent the many facets of textile studies and interest of TSA communities. All thoughtfully engage with their varied subjects and are beautifully produced and illustrated.
The shortlisted books are, in alphabetical order by author:
Sublime Light: Tapestry Art of DY Begay, edited by Cécile R. Ganteaume and Jennifer McLerran, (The National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution, 2024).
Sublime Light: Tapestry Art of DY Begay edited by Cécile R. Ganteaume and Jennifer McLerran was published in conjunction with the first retrospective of fifth-generation Diné weaver DY Begay. Begay first learned to weave watching her mother and grandmother working at their looms using wool processed from the family sheep herd. Excerpts from her journals accompany illustrations of 80 tapestries created between 1965 and 2022 showcasing the evolution of her work. Begay experimented with ancestral weaving techniques combined with modern design and unconventional dyes in works that pay homage to her family traditions, her Diné identity, and the natural beauty of Tselani, Arizona where she grew up. The award committee appreciated how evocative illustrations, poetry and essays intertwined seamlessly in celebration of Begay’s art and Navajo weaving traditions.
The Royal Inca Tunic: A Biography of an Andean Masterpiece, by Andrew James Hamilton, (Princeton University Press, 2024).
The Royal Inca Tunic: A Biography of an Andean Masterpiece by Andrew James Hamilton recenters art historical and material culture methodologies to reconstruct the checkered history of a five-hundred-year-old Inca tunic. The award committee appreciated the groundbreaking research in this volume. Detailed physical examinations of the tunic over several years, comparisons with colonial Peruvian manuscripts and Spanish accounts and provenance research yield significant new findings about this well-known tunic. Hamilton convincingly argues that the tunic was likely woven by two women, one more skilled than the other, possibly for last emperor of the Inca Empire. The book champions the importance of studying art works in person than merely relying on photographs.
Kantha: Sustainable Textiles and Mindful Making, by Ekta Kaul, (Herbert Press: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2024).
Kantha: Sustainable Textiles and Mindful Making by Ekta Kaul is a beautiful book on the tradition of kantha, a Bengali embroidery technique. The word “kantha” refers to both the style of running stitch, as well as the finished cloth made from multiple layers of upcycled cloth created by women in the Bengal region of the Indian subcontinent. These rich quilts were
traditionally embroidered with threads pulled out from the borders of old saris and dhotis. Textile artist Ekta Kaul examines the history of the kantha tradition and how the kantha spirit continues to inspire artists today. The award committee appreciated how effectively the book evokes domestic spaces in while connecting the reader with the art of kantha. Calling attention to this tradition of repurposing cloths imbued with family histories seems especially timely amidst contemporary concerns with environmental sustainability.
By recognizing and rewarding exceptional scholarship that focuses on textiles through the lens of cultural practices and ancestral heritage, the award aims to encourage the study and understanding of global textile traditions. The R. L. Shep Memorial Book Award Committee evaluated the nominated books based on the most successful balance of the two main criteria: bringing the highest standard of research and scholarship to a topic of significance to the field of global cultural heritage textile studies; and presenting its material in a manner that is accessible and engaging for the public as well as for textile scholars. The winner of the R. L. Shep Memorial Book Award for books published in 2024 from among these three finalists will be announced shortly.
For questions and further information about the award, please contact the TSA Awards Committee: Vandana Bhandari, Director of Awards and Scholarships (vb@vandanabhandari.com), or TSA Executive Director Ashley Occhino (director@textilesocietyofamerica.org).
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