Traditional lace cap with straw Sunday hat, from West-Friesland, The Netherlands. TRC Collection.

The concept of women’s head and hair covering, especially in the Islamic world, attracts a lot of attention in the media, but little is said about the actual and highly diverse ways with which women and girls from all religions and cultural backgrounds, both in the Netherlands and throughout the world, bedeck their heads and hair. The new TRC exhibition will show over fifty examples of traditional Dutch lace caps from the four corners of the country, and 101-plus modern and traditional ways of covering and decorating the head and hair, worldwide. There will be individual items as well as complete outfits, all of which help to show how a well-decorated head is an important matter, both for the wearer and society.

In the exhibition it will be possible to see many different forms of head and hair attire, including items made of beads, cloth, embroidery, feathers, furs, rainbow colours, shells, even human hair. Some of the items on display are elaborate constructions that simply make you wonder how they could ever be worn, let alone while walking or dancing.

The exhibition includes outfits and headgear kindly provided by various foreign embassies in The Hague.

Thanks to a generous gift from the Dr Hendrik Muller's Vaderlandsch Fonds, in December 2011, the TRC is now in a position to make an on-line and fully illustrated catalogue of its textile and dress collection. The aim is to have a basic catalogue available in 2012 and from then onwards to include various other detailed sections of the collection. As there are over 7000 items in the TRC collection it will take some time before the majority of the collection is available, but it will be worthwhile!

Read more: Illustrated catalogue of the extensive TRC collection is being put on line

A Following an article about the TRC in a national Dutch newspaper (Trouw, 22 October 2011), the TRC was approached about the potential donation of a collection of European textiles from the sixteenth to the early nineteenth centuries. These pieces formed part of the collection of the Van Gerwen-Lemmens Museum, Valkenswaard, which was forced to close down in 2008. After a visit by TRC staff to Valkenswaard on November 12, Mrs. Van Gerwen very kindly donated 101 textiles to the TRC.

Most of the textiles date to the 18^thcentury and include velvets, brocades and damasks. In addition, there are a few printed and embroidered pieces. There were also several, very rare ‘Coptic’ silk embroideries dating from the sixth to the seventh centuries AD. These include scenes depicting what appears to be Christ and various saints.

The acquisition of these pieces means that the TRC’s collection will take on a greater depth with respect to quality and range of subjects. The textiles will be on display at the TRC Gallery as part of a special exhibition, from June to September 2012.

TRC Leiden, Intensive Textile Course, October 2011

From 14-18 May 2012, the Textile Research Centre, Leiden, is running again its intensive, five-day course on textiles. The course, which is being taught in English by Dr Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood, textile and dress historian and director of the TRC, is a mixture of theoretical and practical elements, with an emphasis on trying out the  various techniques, on holding and examining fibres, textiles and finished items in order to learn and understand what is happening and why various combinations take place. The aim is to make textiles less ‘frightening’ and allow people to look at a textile from virtually any historical period or culture and be able to understand it. Fees  for the full course, including the use of materials, are € 500. The same course was successfully run in October 2011 with participants from Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the US. For a short report by one of the participants, click here. The TRC accepts a maximum number of eight participants. Those who are interested to participate, are advised to register as soon as possible (as per 15 December 2011, six students have confimed their attendance). The course will be run again between 15-19 October, 2012.

For other workshops, click here

Read more: TRC intensive textile course May 2012