The Cotsen Textile Traces Global Roundtable
Wednesday, October 21, 10 a.m.–1 p.m. (eastern, US)
Thursday, October 22, 1 p.m.–4 p.m. (eastern, US)
To commemorate the donation of the Cotsen Textile Traces Study Collection and the creation of the new Cotsen Textile Traces Study Center, join us for a two-day roundtable with distinguished textile artists, conservators, and scholars from around the world. Beginning with an introduction to Lloyd Cotsen’s collecting and an overview of the collection and study center, the roundtable will feature five one-hour panels highlighting textiles from five continents, including an Indian robe for Indonesia, a Kuba hat, and Captain Cook’s sample book of tapa cloth. This inaugural roundtable seeks to encourage textile research, facilitate critical discussion, support cultural diversity, and preserve cultural heritage by making direct connections between collection objects and current research and art-making.
About the Collection
The Cotsen Textile Traces Study Collection represents a lifetime of collecting by business leader and philanthropist Lloyd Cotsen (1929–2017). Comprised of nearly 4,000 fragments from all over the world, the collection offers insights into human creativity from antiquity to the present. Cornerstones of the collection include fragments from Japan, China, pre-Columbian Peru, and 16th- to 18th-century Europe. The entire collection is available online.Wednesday, October 21
Panel 1: 10–11 a.m. (eastern, US)
Introducing the Cotsen Textile Traces Study Collection and Center
Marie-Eve Celio-Scheurer, academic coordinator, Cotsen Textile Traces Study Center
Lyssa Stapleton, curator, Cotsen Collection in Los Angeles
John Wetenhall, director, George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum
Panel 2: 11 a.m.–12 p.m. (eastern, US)
Indian Block-Printing Traditions
Ruth Barnes, curator, Yale University Art Gallery
Ruchira Ghose, former director, National Crafts Museum in New Delhi
Mushtak Khan, former deputy director, National Crafts Museum in New Delhi
Panel 3: 12–1 p.m. (eastern, US)
Conserving Silks
Maria Fusco, chief conservator, George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum
Hélène Dubuis, conservator, Abbeg Stiftung Museum in Riggisberg
Thursday, October 22
Panel 4: 1–2 p.m. (eastern, US)Panel 5: 2–3 p.m. (eastern, US)
Jim Bassler's Construction for Lloyd Cotsen's "Box Project" and the Scaffold Weaves from Peru
Jim Bassler, artist
Elena Phipps, independent scholar
Alejanro de Avila Blomberg, director, Jardín Etnobotánico de Oaxaca and Museo Textil de Oaxaca
Panel 6: 3–4 p.m. (eastern, US)
Tapa Textiles, Past and Present
Adrienne Kaeppler, curator of Oceanic Ethnology, Smithsonian Institution
Kamalu de Preez, ethnology assistant collections manager, Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum in Honolulu
How to Participate
To join us for the roundtable, please register early to reserve your space. Once you have registered, we will email you links and details for joining each day of the roundtable on Zoom. We will also email registered participants a full program with a detailed schedule, abstracts, and bios.
