Rare and Intriguing Textiles Await Visitors in “Weaving an Empire: Textiles of the Inka World,” through December 23

A rare woman’s dress that is 500 years old, a man’s tunic depicting eight double-headed snakes, and one of the finest examples of an Inka elite tunic, featuring the classic “key” motif, are among the intriguing discoveries that await visitors to Weaving an Empire: Textiles of the Inka World, on view through December 23 at The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum in Washington, DC. The Textile Museum’s first major exhibition of South American textiles in over 20 years reveals how Andean dress and other textiles in the 15th and 16th centuries reflected both the influence of the Inka and the diversity within their empire, which was one of the world’s largest and encompassed much of South America’s western region. “The Inka used textiles for every aspect of state governance, from record keeping to religious ceremonies. Every component of clothing, from the base materials to the finishing edges, se