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Ikat cloth from East Sumba, Indonesia, 1980-2000 (TRC 2022.0893).The last few days saw the TRC staff cataloguing the last of the Amsel Collection from Paris. It includes some 500 items that come from various groups living in Romania and Hungary, as well as various other countries. 

In addition, a few weeks ago we were given over sixty Indonesian textiles by the Zant family in Amsterdam. They travelled throughout Indonesia between 1970-2005 and bought numerous ikats and other textiles. These well-documented pieces can be found via the TRC Database. The Zant textiles will be used to make an online reference collection for Indonesian ikats. This week several more ikats, plus two ikat looms will be picked up from the Zant family. A number of these ikats will be displayed in our forthcoming exhibition on ikats from around the world.

And then yesterday, Tuesday 29th, some even more interesting and diverse things were happening! The morning was spent setting up a false wall in the TRC Gallery to hide the extra racks needed for the Arizona collection that was due to arrive at any moment and which we have been looking forward to for months.

We have just put on line in the TRC Database an Iraqi festive outfit (TRC 2022.0914a-f) made by Suzan Sukari in Qaraqosh in northern Iraq, so we thought you might be interested in more details about the items, especially the charuga, why we decided to order the garments and what happened to it and other garments en route to the TRC! Detail of charuga, northern Iraq, 2021/2022. The Syriac text is embroidered at the top (TRC 2022.0914d).

Looking at appliqués from Cairo, at the Sunday afternoon talk, 27 March. Photograph: Beverley Bennett.We have just had the second Sunday Textile Talk at the TRC Leiden! These are a series of informal lectures and talks that are planned for the last Sunday of every month and which will be used to take a look at the diversity of world textiles and dress. 

The first Textile Talk took place on the 27th February 2022 and was about the history and types of lace caps worn in the Rijnland region of the Netherlands during the 19th and early 20th century. The textile talk today included a Powerpoint presentation and was about a very different subject, namely the appliqué panels made in the Street of the Tent Makers in the Khan al-Khalili, Cairo, Egypt.

Appliqués have been produced in Egypt since at least the time of the famous Egyptian pharaoh, Tutankhamun, who died in c.1323 BC. His tomb had numerous examples of textiles and garments, including items decorated with embroidery and appliqué.

The production of appliqué (direct and inlay forms) became widespread in the medieval Egypt and were even depicted in illustrated manuscripts of the period. 

Spring has finally arrived in Leiden and it is clear that things are happening and people are on the move again! For some time the TRC has been working towards the stated goal of becoming an international home and expert centre for textiles and dress, for teaching and presenting textile crafts, and indeed making Leiden into a centre for textile studies! This week saw various movements and events relating to these aims. And then I woke up this morning feeling we are nearly there!

A charuka commissioned by the TRC from a Christian community in northern Iraq. The garment is being processed by Fatima Abbadi, who teaches Jordanian, Palestinian and Syrian embroidery and dress at the TRC.

Glove produced in communist Romania in 1973 for the West European market (TRC 2022.0820t).A few days ago the TRC was given a cardboard box filled with single gloves, not a pair in sight! The box was given by Mrs G.C. van der Poel, who is now in her 90s. Why did we accept the box and contents? Simple, because of its potential story!

The box was sent to Mrs van der Poel by the Dutch fashion company, Claudia Sträter, which is currently based in Diemen, near Amsterdam, The contents consist of 54 single gloves, most of which are made of leather in various colours, as well as being made and decorated in a variety of manners and forms. In addition, some of the glove cuffs have applied beads, embroidery (hand and machine) or inset shapes in contrasting colours. The gloves can be found on the TRC Collection database under nos. TRC 2022.0820 to TRC 2022.0823.

Obi-dome from Japan, decorated in Mondriaan-style, c. 2020 (TRC 2022.0232)..Exactly 150 years ago, on 7 March 1872, the Dutch abstract and non-figurative artist Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan was born in the Dutch city of Amersfoort. We were alerted to this moment by DailyArt, the absolutely wonderful app that presents a work of art every day.

We could not let this event pass without drawing attention to Mondriaan's enormous influence on design history, and in particular on textiles and accessories. Compare the Yves Saint Laurent collection of 1965.

Many people may think of kimono and obi as very Japanese garments. That is true in some way, of course, but not always so in terms of their decoration. Rather, kimono/obi designers have for centuries applied many foreign motifs to decorate kimono and obi, to attract customers who want to wear ‘something different’.

Japanese obi (sash), with Andean (pre-Hispanic South American) motifs, c. 2000 (TRC 2022.0233).

I am extremely grateful and excited to have taken part in the TRC’s “Textile Intensive Course” last week, from February 21st - 25th. After five full days of looking at and learning about textiles I can say I learned an incredible amount in a short period of time. My biggest takeaway is that the world of textiles is far larger, more complicated, more nuanced, and more interesting than you could ever imagine.

Participants of the February 2022 edition of the TRC Intensive Textile Course. Photograph by author.

Five others and I followed along with Dr. Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood through every step of the production process of various textiles. First we looked at fibers, starting with the very basics of cotton, flax, wool, and silk. From there we expanded into a large world of fibers where we broke them down into categories to understand their origin, purpose, and qualities. Did you know it is possible to make a silky white fiber out of milk protein? I didn't before this course! Nor did I realize how many different types of sheep wool there are, or what the process for harvesting spider silk looks like. The best part was getting to sort through the bins of fibers Gillian had in order to start our sample book we eventually got to take home.