PhD Candidate; African Art, Guest Lecture Series Coordinator; GSHAAA, Social Media Coordinator, GSHAAA
she/her/hers
Morgan Snoap’s doctoral dissertation project examines the socio-economic history of silk lampas and brocade fabrics woven in the city of Fes, Morocco during the late 19th century to present. Since as early as the 13th century, Fes has specialized in silk brocade fabrics whose craft is linked with that of the silk lampas textiles of Granada under the Nasrid dynasty of al-Andalus. The ceremonial woven silk belt (hizam) and brocade kaftan (khrib), worn by both Muslim and Jewish women, still occupy prominent positions in the visual image of Fassi (adjectival form of Fes) textile prowess. Costly to commission, these garments were prized financial investments often passed generationally between women of a family. Extant belts and kaftans date from the 16th to 20th centuries. While the belts fell out of fashion in the early 20th century, brocade kaftans are still woven and worn as women’s ceremonial attire, especially for weddings. Considering the fabrication, consumption, and collection of Fassi brocades, Morgan’s research seeks to understand how the cultural biography of these fabrics has: implicated regional Moroccan economic and artistic exchange; operated within French colonial craft “revitalization” projects and museum collections; functioned in the lives of both Morocco’s Muslim and Jewish communities; served as mobile, wearable sites of memory; and symbolized Moroccan cultural heritage both nationally and internationally. The methodologies for this project include: interviews with contemporary weavers and owners of textile workshops in the city of Fes; conversations with collectors of antique and contemporary lampas/brocade textiles; object-based study in the collections of Moroccan museums; research in national archive, library, and museum collections of documents and images; and visual analysis of images (photographs, paintings, prints) representing brocade textiles and attire.
Dissertation in Progress:
“Unraveling the “Brocades” of Fes: Moroccan cultural memory, mythology, and heritage via the threads of a Fassi textile (19th century to present)”
Research Interests:
- Urban Textiles in Morocco
- Role of Cross-cultural Exchange in Artistic Development
- Gender Roles & Dynamics in the Creation of Art Objects
2023-2024:
Guest Lecture Series Coordinator, Graduate Student History of Art & Architecture Association
Social Media Coordinator, Graduate Student History of Art & Architecture Association
2022-2023
GSO Representative, Graduate Student History of Art & Architecture Association
2021-2022:
GSO Representative, Graduate Student History of Art & Architecture Association