Huang Nengfu
Digital Jacquard Arts

        The invention and development of textile technology symbolise the progress of humancivilisation. The weaving of silk and hemp was invented over 7000 years ago in China.Originally, weaving was purely carried out by hands, called “hand weaving by means of hanging”. In weaving practices during the past thousands of years, a series of looms were invented, evolving from back-strap looms, simple looms with a machine frame, basket type and lattice type warp patterning looms, to Chinese drawlooms. It was not until the beginning of the 19th century that the power driven mechanical Jacquard loom was invented, but there were limitations in the fabric weave and colour design. In the 1980s, the electronic Jacquard shedding mechanism was integrated with a variety of high-tech CAD systems and modern machineries for textile, and textile art and design were transformed into the weave structure of textile design, and further converted into information and signals for Jacquard weaving pattern. During weaving, Jacquard information and signals are transferred to the Jacquard heads which activate them,and therefore highly efficient digital Jacquard machines were invented without the need for punched cards. The invention of digital Jacquard machines represents historical progress in textile technology, providing many new possibilities for designers to implement innovative ideas and even express new interpretations of art via textile design. Congratulations and wishing much success.