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(Leiden, 2 Nov. 2025) For the last year or so I have been muttering about having a textile garden at the TRC’s new home on the Boerhaavelaan (B6), Leiden. This is not a new idea and various museums, botanical gardens and local projects throughout Europe have set up dye plant gardens, such as that at the Palazzo Madama (Turin, Italy), Botanical Gardens, Cambridge, England , as well as the Amsterdam Colour Gardens. The main thing that was needed was a suitable garden and B6 gives us that.

Boerhaavelaan 6, from the garden.However, we do not just want a 'mere' dye garden, instead we want to extend it to cover the world of textiles, including fibres, dyes and related items such as seeds used for decoration or nuts used for buttons. Not all the plants can easily be grown in Leiden (some require desert conditions, which rainy Leiden certainly does not have!), nor do we have a greenhouse (yet) where such plants could be grown. However, there are many plants we can start with and gradually expand as we get more experience over the next few years.

Another difference is that we do not want just pretty plants all in a row (to paraphrase an English nursery rhyme [Mary Mary Quite Contrary]), we want to use them. Such as having a patch of flax as part of the Crafts Council Nederlands Project, 1m2 flax, here in the Netherlands. There is also a group on the Boerhaavelaan who are very keen natural dyers, so perhaps we can grow a range of plants that they can use (think onions, weld, madder, etc). Then there are various schools in the neighbourhood, so perhaps setting up a dye plant project with them as part of sustainability? The plan is also to have the garden open to the general public during the office hours of the TRC.

(Leiden, 12 October 2025) From January until April 2025, I conducted extensive fieldwork in Cairo on the subject of khayamiya, for my research master’s thesis in Religious Studies at Utrecht University.

Fig. 1. Ramadan stall in Mohandiseen, Cairo, 2025. Photograph by Christina de Korte.

Khayamiya represents an appliqué technique that is primarily used for decorating panels for large, handmade tents, but the technique is nowadays also used for all kinds of other objects, such as tote bags and cushion covers.

Two visitors in front of Boerhaavelaan 6.We have just experienced the Open Monumentendag  (Open Monuments weekend; 13-14 September 2025) at the TRC’s new home, Boerhaavelaan 6 (known as B6 at the TRC), here in Leiden, just behind the railway station.The building has recently been acquired by the Stichting Monumenten Bezit, which will shortly, also thanks to Leiden Council, make it available to the TRC.

It was the first time this historic building had been open to the public and we were involved in such an event. It was a steep learning curve, but great fun, both for us and for the volunteers and organisers of the Monumentendag.

The new TRC home, view from the garden.On Saturday B6 was open from 12.00 until 17.00 and on Sunday from 10.00 until 17.00. On both days there was a constant flow of people, much to the amazement and delight of all of us.  On Saturday afternoon there were 313 visitors, while Sunday saw well over 650 (I have yet to receive the exact number).

This means that, in total, nearly 1000 people came to see the villa. There were guided tours with a brief introduction being given of its intriguing history, or people could simply wander around the house. As somebody said, the history of the 20th century is encapsulated in this urban villa, which was home to the Barge family (Prof. Barge was the Rector Magnificus of Leiden University from 1937-1938) for nearly 100 years.

Testing natural dyes. Photograph by author.I attended the five-day TRC Intensive Textile Course, 25-29 August 2025. Below I will describe what we did and what we learnt, and how much I enjoyed the course.

Day 1 was spent looking at and identifying fibres. It was also spent getting to know the amazing people who participated and organised the course, along with taking a quick tour of the TRC. This was an extra special time to look around, as plans for the TRC to move to other, and larger premises were being finalised. It was exciting to get a glimpse into the work being put into moving the collection of more than 51,000 objects from one location to another.

Fibre identification was a great first day activity. It is the most basic part of what makes up a textile, so logically it made sense to start with that, but it was also a great ice breaker. There was a lot of socialising while collecting our fibre samples, as well as a lot of learning, and a group favourite was identification through burning small samples of cotton, flax, silk, wool, and even eyebrow hairs!

Fig. 1. Woven mat (losa), made from reed or bark, from the Mbola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, late 20th century (TRC 2025.1290).Over the last year or so, Marjolijn van Scherpenzeel (Hartendief, Leiden), has given us a large quantity of textiles, mainly from Central Africa, Thailand and Laos, as well as various religious garments and embroideries from Western Europe.

Marjolijn has just given us some more pieces that we are gradually sorting out. Among the donation are some woven panels of a type I have never seen before. They are about 50 x 35 cm in size and are made from reed or strips of bark, stained black, white, red and yellow.

The pieces are now in the TRC Collection (TRC 2025.1284 to TRC 2025.1325) and are decorated with a variety of woven, geometric patterns. The mats or losa are made by Mbole women who live in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly known as Zaire). They belong to the Mongo people and live in the equatorial forests in northeastern Congo.

Fig. 2. Woven mat (losa), made from reed or bark, from the Mbola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, late 20th ntury (TRC 2025.1321).These mats are not woven on a loom, but rather in the hand in a similar manner to a basket, with weft threads that are individually threaded using a twill weave (including 3/1 and 4/1 twill forms) into the required pattern.

The geometric patterns are apparently based on kengo or body tattoo patterns, known in general as itoko and come with a variety of names, such as bilik (bricks; Fig. 1. TRC 2025.1290), eleko (feather; Fig. 2. TRC 2025.1321), kitiwala (bed, TRC 2025.1294) and koi (leopard or leaping power of the leopard; TRC 2025.1324 and TRC 2025.1325).

We are planning a small exhibition about these pieces that will take place once we have moved into the new TRC home later this year!

Gillian Vogelsang, 7 September 2025

Sources

• Bral, Jan (Ed.) (1984), Mongo Cultuur, Gemeentekrediet, Sint-Niklaas.
• Mabiala Mantuba-Ngoma, Mabiala (1989). Losa, Flechtwerke der Mbole, Verlag Fred Jahn,, München).

• Gerdes, Paulus, Twill plaited mats from the Mbole - Mongo in Northeastern Congo.

In Qing society, garment decoration, such as embroidered and woven motifs, were often embedded with meaning, signalling the wearer’s values, identity, and their social and political status. The upper classes were familiar with and able to both convey and read the iconography of embroidery and woven decoration that adorned their garments and accessories.

Fig. 1. A woven rank panel with the design of a bird (crane) facing towards a red sun. China, 19th century (TRC 2016.2363).

The meaning of the decoration was determined by the subject matter or motifs depicted, and the layout or framework in which the motifs were placed. The placement of the imagery on the garment, together with its content, signify how the motifs are to be interpreted. Compositions in the Qing dynasty can be categorised into four styles: bordered, dispersed, consolidated, and integrated.

Princeton University Press has just announced the upcoming publication (Febr. 2026)  of The Atlas of World Embroidery: A Global Exploration of Heritage and Styles. The book was written by Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood, director of the TRC, and uses a large number of textiles housed in the TRC Collection.

The book is described in the announcement as "A richly illustrated history of embroidery and needlework, showcasing the glorious range of styles, motifs, and materials used around the world."

"Embroidery is one of the world’s most widely shared forms of creative expression—and one of its most varied and diverse. It can be found in every region, yet its visual languages, themes, and techniques vary greatly: some are marked by unique styles and others show influences from neighboring cultures. The Atlas of World Embroidery examines many distinctive embroidery styles and traditions found across the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australasia."

"From the quillwork and birch boxes of Indigenous North America to the decorative matyo style of Hungary, the zardozi embroiderers of India, and the satin stitches of Han Dynasty China, Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood provides a comprehensive history of embroidery, describing its materials and tools, its designs and symbols, and its uses and makers. Emphasizing the visual aspects of embroidery across cultures, the atlas features an unprecedented array of color images celebrating the art form."

There are lots of things happening at the moment at the TRC, including preparing for some very, very big changes. As readers of the TRC Blog and Newsletter will know we have been working with various groups to move the TRC to larger premises so we can expand our range of activities, collection and teaching commitments as an international centre (hub!) for textile knowledge and skills in all their diverse forms.

Yes: We hope to move soon. Showcases are being emptied.Leiden: City of Textile Knowledge

Leiden Council is actively helping us on many levels – they really want us to expand as a knowledge centre, serving an international community of textile lovers who want to pass onto the next generation(s) skills and knowledge about this fundamental aspect of human life and culture. With the Council's help, we are talking with various school groups, Leiden University, etc., about increasing the teaching of textiles and dress studies and making the TRC Collection, Library and research facilities more widely known and available, also online (compare the recent blog about 360-photography of TRC items).

There will also be an expanded number of workshops, courses, study days, weekend events and lectures. We are talking, for example, with various potential teachers to offer an increased range of subjects, from ancient Egyptian textiles to a history of jewellery.

In addition, a range of exhibitions that vary in size, from a single showcase to two large rooms are planned. These will be used to show the range, size and diversity of both the world of textiles and dress as well as the TRC’s amazing collection.