There’s still time to register for Fascination, our next symposium, coming up at the beginning of May in Dunedin. We’ve been firming up both the programme of papers and the supplementary programme, which now runs from Thursday 1 May to Sunday 4 May, thanks to members of our community. So here’s a few more of the other things that are on around the symposium.
On Thursday, you can go behind the scenes at the Hocken, one of the country’s foremost research collections. Liaison librarians Amanda Mills and Katherine Milburn have shared collection highlights at several past symposia and have put together a tour that will further enrich understanding of the holdings of this broad and deep collection. There are two hour-long tours, one at 1.30pm, one at 3.30pm. The tour is free, but numbers are limited, so if this interests you, you can book when you register for the symposium.
If you’re milling around Dunedin on Thursday, on your way to Toitū, Christine Keller and the Loom Room are setting up from 1-4 May at the Dunedin Community Gallery on Princes Street, just round the corner from the art gallery and would love to welcome you to the Craft Lounge. The event highlights Dunedin’s vibrant textile community through creative classes, workshops, and exhibitions to encourage public engagement with contemporary craft practices and their social connections.
Thursday night’s event is a public panel talk at Toitū Otago Settlers Museum about the Eden Hore Central Otago collection. Co-author Jane Malthus will be joined by fellow EHCO steering group member Margarita Robertson of NOM*d, Paula Penno of the Central Otago District Council, and fashion scholar Natalie Smith.
Friday 2 May will be mostly taken up with symposium papers, starting with a keynote by Emeritus Professor Hilary Radner on the fascination of Barbie’s shoes in the 2023 Greta Gerwig film. But after the AGM, the Dunedin Public Art Gallery has extended the opportunity for the CTANZ group to have an after-hours tour of their THIS IS NOM*d exhibition, led by Margarita Robertson. After which, the symposium dinner is a lively Italian feast at Etrusco at the Savoy, a Dunedin institution in one of the city’s beautiful historic buildings. We’ll start with a glass of prosecco and antipasto, move onto breads, pizza and pasta, and finish with a range of equally delicious Italian desserts.
Saturday’s start time of 9.30am gives visitors and locals alike the opportunity to grab breakfast at the Otago Farmers Market at the railway station, only a couple of old locomotive lengths from Toitū. Among the papers on Saturday is a workshop aimed particularly at our curatorial members, an opportunity for peer review of Toitū’s costume collection. This is also another opportunity to use some free time to visit the Loom Room’s Craft Lounge at the Dunedin Community Gallery.
As the symposium papers wind down, another related event at Toitū also showcases some of the work of local textile practitioners, with several makers demonstrating their practice in the museum’s foyer.
Sunday is the day that those in town for a short time can explore further afield – there’s a few exhibitions of potential interest at Tūhura Otago Museum. But if you’re around in the morning, there’s another invitation to the CTANZ community. During the weekend, Siân Quennell Torrington will be showing some intricate stitched multi media sculptures at Slant Art Project Space. Siân will be presenting on her practice at the symposium; the exhibition allows us to see them in their full dimensions, and she’s hosting a special CTANZ croissants and coffee Sunday morning viewing on Sunday 4 May, 11am – 12.30pm. Which sounds like a lovely way to wind down after what is always an inspiring and invigorating couple of days.
Registrations for the symposium close on 24 April, and you can book online or, if you would prefer to pay by bank transfer, please email treasurer@costumeandtextile.nz.
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