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SUMMARY 1. The Museum of Cretan Ethnology (MCE ), an institution of the Cultural Association of Messara – Crete, designed a pilot-program for the investigation and development of five traditional crafts of Crete: Handwoven Fabrics, Furniture-Making, Pottery, Metal Works in Architecture and Basket-Making. The program was presented to the European Social Found (ESF) and after it was accepted, it was undertaken by the MCE. It was cofinanced by the ESF and the Greek Ministry of Culture. 2. HAND WOVEN FABRICS The study of fabrics woven on loom, in the context of the Pilot-Program, was carried out for three kinds of weaves, distinguish according to their design: – Fabrics with design based on geometric patterns; – Fabrics with design based on striped or rectilinear patterns; – “Deximata ” Their choice emerged from the fact that these three kinds are particular to Crete and can be easily reproduced by means of contemporary technology. Another kind of weaves, these with figurative design, have not been included in this study, for both their style and topics were imported in Crete in the mid-19th century and after. 2.1. FABRICS WITH GEOMETRICAL DESIGN The attempt to present the immense variety of geometrically patterned cretan weaves has a double aim: First the recording of these precious products of the cretan cultural tradition, which becomes necessary, both in regard of their aesthetic value and their increasing rarity as time goes by. (Many of the weaves presented in this book have ceased to be produced for some time now). Second, the promotion of these patterns in modern manufacture, not only as models to copy, but mostly as sources of inspiration for a new approach in the design of weaves and textiles and possibly other objects. This could be attained after a systematic study of the fabrics, of the character and composition of their decorative topics, that would render comprehensible and so respectable, the fundamental principles of design and color composition. Geometrically patterned weaves can be found all over Crete. Their fabrication demands special skill and a lot of time. This is why these weaves are rather few and highly estimated by their owners, who tend to use them in special circumstances rather than in every day life. These weaves are characterised in common by the following design and colouring principles: 1. The surface is divided in zones grouping the various decorative patterns. 2. All lines, both those which define the basic pattern and those of particular decorative themes, strictly follow two dimensions, oblique and perpendicular to each other. 3. Symmetry on a vertical axis constitutes a strict rule, respected by all decorative patterns. 4. Each decorative pattern constitutes a complete topic. 5. Decorative patterns present strong similarities and tend to assume a rhomboid form. 6. The high density of stripes and hence the absence of uncoloured surfaces within the pattern is a special characteristic of cretan weaves. 7. The division of every figure into smaller determines a drawing scale as well as a uniform density of lines all over the surface of the weave. 8. Colours are strictly related to geometrical figures. A sole colour is used to define a bounding line, and thus to characterize the overall pattern. 9. Each decorative zone normally includes all colours used in the weave. 10 The coloured background is interlocated with the pattern. The areas of the decorative zone which are not embroidered constitute figures of the same scale as and complementary to the patterns. 2.2. FABRICS WITH RECTILENEAR DESIGN The rectilinear design is found mostly in weaves of every day use. The fabrics of the group serve various needs: household covering, clothing, carrying objects, storing fruits and grains. This is why their design is simpler, their weaving is easier and their production time is rather short. The weaver carries the shuttle with the coloured filling from one edge of the fabric to the other, forming coloured stripes. The varying size of the stripes depends on how many times the weaver will pass every coloured yarn through. The alternating colours of the fillings produce the design and colour effect while the wraps act simply as connecting elements of the tissue. We observe however that simple form and humble use does in no way reduce the aesthetic value of the weaves. This decorative form, developed in Crete more than anywhere else in Greece, has attained especially rich aesthetic results. The study of the multicoloured stripes brings to light all the basic characteristics of the cretan traditional art of weaving as well as of the overall culture of the island. Clear geometric organisation of space, strict ordering of found elements. Crystallized type-forms characteristic of cultural communities and regions. Local differentiations and innumerable colour varia without however overriding the rules and altering the general character of traditional cretan art. The object of our research and of this edition is to investigate the possibility of reproducing the traditional cretan weaves by the processes of modern industry. This is why this presentation is mainly concerned with the formal and the manufacturing aspects of the subject. The study of weaves with rectilinear design comes to the following general conclusions: 1. The stripes, the articulation of which creates the overall figure, present a graduation in size (in their width). These stripes create larger formations (zones of a particular form, disposition and occurrence) while functioning at the same time as parts of the overall formation. 2. We can distinguish the dominant from the secondary elements (stripes) in the internal organisation of each zone. This distinction depends on the width of the stripes, their tonic or colour intensity, the frequency of their repetition within the zone. 3. In the total surface, – just as in the internal structure of each zone, and for the same reasons – zones may be classified as dominant or secondary and, less often, as equivalent. 4. The particular form of each zone produces the impression of a linear or a surface formation of a relation between linear formations and a surface or of a relation between surfaces. 5. The thin-stripe formations of a zone may enrich the pattern by the varying density of their stripes, delimitate the sides or the center of the zone, partition its extended surface thus creating a lighter impression or combine their tonic and colour relations in internal rhythmic colour polyphonies. 6. The colours are disposed in each figure following specific relations of contrast or affinity: colour contrast (e.g. red-green, yellow-violet) or tonic contrast (e.g. black-white, blue-white), colour affinity (e.g. yellow-orange) or tonic affinity (e.g. yellow-white). 7. The disposition of the colour stripes, the balance of sizes (that is the area occupied by each colour, either within each zone or on the whole surface of the weave), the background of the stripes and the colour and tonic relations between them, create “modification effects”, which diversify the impact of colours, of tone, brightness and magnitude on our visual perception. 8. The choice of colours in every figure constitutes a colour scale varying from figure to figure or from type to type. 9. The overall rhythm of the composition results froici the harmonic combination of various specific rhythms (rhythm of stripes, of zones, of colours) or the surface of the weave. 10. Finally the composition of all the contrasting formal elements produces the harmonic visual effect of the design. 2.3 “ DEXIMATA ” These fabrics can be found all over Greece, but the cretan designs present a particular variety of Patterns. The production of their geometric design involves a certain automatic of the loom. The designs may be innumerable following the number of thralls of the warp and the passing of the filling while traditionally the exploitation of these techniques is limited to a few variations. This technique is also propagated in Western Europe. It has not been possible however to locate its origin in place and time.