Leiden: City of Textile Knowledge
The past year has been a time of thinking, trying out, consolidating, meetings, and working on how to continue and expand the TRC! We are working with, for example, Leiden Council and Leiden University, as well as other groups and people, to find new premises, attract external funding and to pursue new possibilities for the teaching and learning about textiles in all their glorious, and sometimes less glamours forms.
We have had numerous meetings about the possibility of a larger home for the TRC in the city centre that will help to attract textile people from all over the world to Leiden. And I can promise there will be much more on this subject in 2025! We have also been presenting a wide variety of lectures, courses, workshops and study days on the theme of textiles and dress and many more are planned for the next few years.
We have attracted students both from the Netherlands and other European countries (partly thanks to our Erasmus+ Adult Education Accreditation). They had sometimes very different backgrounds, but all share an interest (which becomes a passion in some cases) in the diverse subjects associated with textiles and dress.
A brown mottled jacket (haori) with a lining decorated with a painted design on an off-white ground. Acquired with crowd funding in 2024. Japan, 20th century (TRC 2024.1064).
There have been several significant donations of items in 2024, including a wide range of Chinese and Japanese textiles, a large collection of Afghan and Central Asian jewellery, as well as a collection of 18th century European chasubles, dalmatics and other items relating to the Catholic Church.
Many of the Japanese kimono and jackets, for instance, were acquired following a very successful Crowdfunding activity that raised within a very short time the necessary sum of money. I would like to thank everyone (including Leiden Council) involved for their support and generosity. Some of the jackets already form part of a current (Spring 2025) exhibition at the TRC.
Sample of a piece of strapwork made from dark red silk velvet. Europe, late 16th century. Donation in 2024 by Marjolijn van Scherpenzeel (TRC 2024.3205).
These donations and acquisitions reflect ‘Citizen Culture’, namely involving the wider community in our endeavours. This process is playing a very important role in the development of the TRC and we hope, and indeed expect, that it will continue to do so, as more people realise the importance of textiles as an aspect of everyday life, and, in many cases, come to realise that they have far more knowledge about textiles and dress than they actually ever thought about, and how wonderful it is to visit an institute where this knowledge is shared and appreciated.
The TRC Collection (currently some 50,000 objects) is now recognised as being of international importance and prestige, reflecting not only Dutch and European textiles and dress, but also that of the rest of the world. This collection stresses that there is no distance between ‘them’ and ‘us’, between European and Asian, African and American, as we can all talk about textiles and dress because we all use and wear them. Textiles are literally on the same level as food and music: it brings people together because there is a general, although sometimes hidden understanding of what is involved: We all wear clothes, but at the same time, and this makes the subject so fascinating, they are not all the same.
We have also been working with Leiden Council to create a motto for the city! Leiden’s wealth and presence was based upon the textile industry which is reflected in the phrase “Leiden: City of Textiles”. In addition the city houses the university and many museums, hence the phrase “Leiden: City of Knowledge”. The TRC has created a new phrase, namely, “Leiden: City of Textile Knowledge” and 2024 has been used to look at what we are doing, what we can do and how to work with the many groups interested and actively working in the field of “Textile Knowledge”. There will be a lot more on this subject in 2025!
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