Symposium

Empire Costume & Textiles Symposium

8th Annual Symposium Costume and Textile Association of New Zealand

(aka New Zealand Costume and Textile Section of the Auckland Museum Institute)

When: Saturday 30th May to Monday 1st June 2009 (Queens Birthday Weekend)
Where: Hawke's Bay Museum and Art Gallery, Napier

The theme for the 2009 conference is Empire.

When in 1979 Farah Diba, Empress of Iran, fled the fall of Tehran she did so in a dress designed by Valentino. It was neither the first, nor the last, time that luxurious textiles and high fashion were intimately linked with the image of an Empire. Historically, extravagant clothing and textiles, ceremony and pageantry have been central to the way in which the allure of Empires has been constructed. In contrast everyday clothing and ordinary textiles have often been part of the set of tools by which revolution and sedition have been able to dismantle the rule of Empires.

Despite a strong association with the past, the idea of empire still occupies our daily diet of ideas. Here, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, and at the beginning of the 8th Costume & Textile symposium, then - the concept of Empire has been chosen to provide a starting point for the discussion for a broad range of aspects of textile and costume from the products of past cultural Empires to the outpourings of current fashion Empires - the tale of the Emperor's new clothes might even expect a mention.

Programme

The programme for the Queen's Birthday weekend symposium includes a range of events including: two key note presentations; the presentation of twenty papers by speakers from around the county: the launch of the exhibition Last, Loneliest, Loveliest; New Zealand & the Empire; a special screening of Fashion on Film 1925 - 1958, a compilation of footage from The New Zealand Film Archive; a conference dinner; and a gallery floor talk with textile artist Clare Plug.

The two keynote speakers for the conference are writer, curator and textile artist Rosemary McLeod, and Louis Le Vaillant, Director/ Curator of The Johnston Collection, Melbourne, and the former Curator of Applied Arts at Auckland Museum. Rosemary will be looking at how ideas of empire were incorporated into women's domestic textile handwork in the 1930's - 1950's, and how this was encouraged by women's magazines of the period; and Louis Le Vaillant will give a keynote presentation on garments and jewellery ornamenting and promoting Empire from the reign of Queen Elizabeth I through to that of Queen Elizabeth II (and beyond).

The symposium is being held in conjunction with an exhibition of textiles by Hawke's Bay artist Clare Plug titled Look South, which will feature a selection of embroidered works based on her trip to Antarctica in 2006 through the Creative New Zealand Artists in Antarctica programme.

Both members of the Costume and Textiles Association, and non members are welcome to attend the event.

Download Empire Programme (pdf 77kb)

Registrations

To register please Places are limited - to register your interest in attending, download the registration form, complete and return to us.

• Download registration form (pdf 185kb)

Book before 30 April 2009 and receive a 10% discount on the registration fee.

The first 25 registrations receive a free copy of the Clare Plug Look South exhibition publication.

Registrations close Friday 22 May 2009

For more information about this event please email Pam Joyce, Marketing Team Leader, 06 835 9245.

E-mail Pam Joyce