Today (26 August 2015) has truly been a Yemen day at the TRC. It was not the intention, it just happened that way. The morning was dedicated to a Wednesday Workshop about Yemeni embroidery. There were fourteen people in the group with Dr. Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood as the lecturer. The workshop started with an in-depth look at the embroidery in the TRC's current exhibition about clothing and jewellery from Yemen. There then followed a practical session looking at the use of chain stitch and many variations of this stitch for embroidering various types of Yemeni clothing, especially for women. Different types of ground materials, cotton embroidery threads and even needles were used to create various patterns found on one particular garment. During the practical there was also a short talk about Jewish embroidery and embroiderers in Yemen and Israel (post-1948). The workshop produced some surprising results, as many of those present had not realised there were so many forms of the chain stitch!
The workshop finished at 13.00 and less than an hour later there was a group from the Yemen Embassy, The Hague, including the Consul and the 2nd Secretary. There was a long discussion about how to preserve Yemeni culture given these unstettled times in the country and whether it would be possible to further build up the collection of Yemeni clothing and jewellery at the TRC, and to turn the TRC into an international centre for Yemeni dress and textiles. Lots to think about.
