Don’t lose the thread

A good number of European textile museums were established with a clear regional focus, and many of them specialise in individual aspects of historical textile production: in the extraction and preparation of raw materials, the production of yarns and fabrics, specific materials and techniques or the development of textile goods in the history of fashion. Hardly any museum could hold the sheer wealth of contexts associated with this topic, ranging from socio-economic factors to matters concerning the history of technology and culture. This event centres on the question of how this specific type of museum and its collections can continue to develop against the background of, to some extent, completely new conditions: How can a connection be made between historical looms and current technological and economic developments in the textile industry? Or between swatches and sample collections and the creative and cultural phenomena of today's world? What socially relevant questions are tied up with velvet and silk? And what might tomorrow's viable approaches to collecting look like?