Could you help the C&TA as our treasurer?
The Costume & Textile Association is looking for a new treasurer, because after five years, our current treasurer, Teresa, has decided to retire. She leaves the accounts in an excellent and easily-understood condition. It is a worthwhile and interesting job, and vital to the future of our association. If you feel you would like to take this on, or if you know someone who would like to do so, please contact us to set up an informal chat to find out more about what is involved. Thank you. Email: ctacostume@gmail.com Helen Hoyte scarf competition winners
The work of three NUA textile design students at celebrating different aspects of sustainability has been honoured by the Costume and Textile Association with this year's Helen Hoyte Award.
Year 2 students on the BA (Hons) Textile Design course were challenged in November 2020 by the C&TA in Norwich to design a scarf to celebrate ‘Sustainable Norwich and Norfolk’. Find out more about the scarves Geoffrey Squire Bursary award 2021 opens
![]() The Costume & Textile Association is pleased to announce that the third Geoffrey Squire Memorial Bursary of up to £2000 for research into costume or textile history will be awarded in June 2021.
Perhaps unexpected and unaccustomed free time during 2020 has given enthusiasts the chance to come up with exciting and promising ideas which, if developed, could benefit from financial support. Maybe ongoing research could be helped. The award is usually spread over two years and may be for academic and/or practical research. The award was set up thanks to a generous legacy to the Costume and Textile Association from the estate of the late Geoffrey Squire (1924 -2011), a well-known costume and textile historian and theatre designer. Find out more and apply here Textile Treasures: Fingers crossed!
![]() The Textile Treasures exhibition had been due to open at Norwich Castle Museum on January 4, but of course was not able to do so because of the lockdown,
However it is hoped that it will still get a slot later this year. Textile Treasures is a celebration of inspiring textiles and their makers, their personal histories, creativity and craft from Norwich Castle's nationally-important collection. The exhibition, which is supported by the C&TA, includes 30 extraordinary examples of patchwork, applique, and embroidery. Find out more about Textile Treasures ![]() Ho, Ho, Hosiery!
NEW PROGRAMME 2020-2021: Our new programme is now available - click here to see what is on offer Our new events kicked off with a members-only Zoom event which attracted 80 visitors. C&TA favourite Meridith Towne gave us an early taste of Christmas with her presentation Ho, Ho, Hosiery! - which included these Beatles stockings and much more. For a gallery of photos from Meredith's talk, visit the events page ![]() Your vital money helps a major museum project
An extract from Ruth Battersby Tooke's report to the AGM on the conservation plans for an important tapestry paid for by C&TA members. The C&TA have agreed to finance conservation work to enable the display of a panel from the extraordinary Bellerophon Tapestries in the forthcoming British Museum Partnership Medieval Gallery as part of the redevelopment of Norwich Castle’s Norman Keep. In the first phase C&TA funds have already paid for photography which will provide digital access to the tapestries remotely and in the redeveloped gallery enabling the whole story of the myth of Bellerophon to be told while only one is on display, and showing close-up details and giving an insight into the conservation process. The rest of grant will be used to carry out a minimal conservation treatment so we can show one panel for two years. While the tapestry is on display, we will launch a fundraising project to fully conserve all five panels. Read Ruth's full report here (Download Word document) |
The Costume & Textile Association is an independent charity seeking to promote the unique costume and textile collection of the Norfolk Museums Service.
Norwich is a fine city whose heritage owes much to the textile industry which brought wealth to the city between the twelfth and eighteenth centuries. The legacy can still be enjoyed today: Norwich is still enriched by the different styles, culture, architecture and language that can be traced back to the ‘Strangers’ who came from the Low Countries to work in the textile industry. The Costume and Textile Association (C&TA) is a lively organisation bringing together people who are keen to support and learn more about the history and development of costume and textiles. Find out more about us, and read our mission statement, constitution and data protection policy. The C&TA works to raise money for the museums service, but is independent of it. Over the last three decades Costume and Textile Association members have contributed more than £100,000 to enable the Norfolk Museums Service to extend and improve its costume and textile collection. Find out more about our donations NEW FACEBOOK PAGE
The C&TA has a new Facebook page - click the logo above to find it. OUR NEWSLETTER We are keeping in touch with both members and interested non-members through our e-newsletters. To find out more, and sign up, visit our email newsletter page. NEW: CASTLE MUSEUM VIDEOS There are some fascinating YouTube talks and videos on the new Norwich Castle YouTube page - including Stephen Fry on the Castle project and Talking Objects, a series of treasures from the collection. The first object is a beautiful and rare example of Romanesque ivory carving found during an excavation at Norwich Castle itself. Find out more on the Castle YouTube page ARCTIC TREASURES What 10 things would you need to live in the Arctic? Warm boots, beaded snow goggles, an ivory needlecase... Lovely pictures on the British Museum blog. DON'T MISS: The exhibition catalogue slideshow of our 2016 exhibition, Past Glory, Present Inspiration. View it here. |