Volume 2 of the Bloomsbury World Encyclopedia of Embroidery will be published in January 2021.In early January 2021 the second volume of the Bloomsbury World Encyclopedia of Embroidery will become available. It is about hand embroidery from Central Asia, the Iranian plateau and the Indian Sub-Continent. More details can be found here.

In the meantime the TRC in Leiden is working on two more volumes, namely, embroidery from Scandinavia and Western Europe, and hand embroidery from Sub-Saharan Africa. We were just wondering if anyone has examples of African embroidery they would be willing to donate to the TRC Collection? Or could you send photographs?

Any 'stories' behind the suitable embroideries and textiles are also needed. Who made the pieces, what materials, threads and techniques did the makers use, and were the designs symbolic? What did the piece mean to the makers and users?

We cannot promise that donated piece(s) will be included in the volume, but you never know! What is important is that the more examples we can see and examine, the better and more comprehensive the book will be.

We have already experienced how well the first volume has been received (including three international awards and many happy readers). It has become clear that the volumes in these series are going to act as a source of knowledge and inspiration for generations to come. Now that is a worthwhile legacy, and the TRC is proud of its achievement.

Gillian Vogelsang, director TRC, 13 December 2020.