October update

First: the save the date has gone out for the next CTANZ symposium, to be held in Whanganui 8-10 May 2026. The call for papers is imminent.

Now: some congratulations for members of the CTANZ whanau. Long-time member Karen Richards of Richmond recently received her King’s Service Medal from the Governor-General at Government House. Karen’s KSM was awarded for services to ‘textiles history and conservation’, which in her case includes cataloguing, exhibition co-curation, remediation and presentation, and her role with the collections of Nelson’s Broadgreen House. We are familiar with Karen’s work from symposium presentations, and especially from the opportunities to visit Broadgreen at the last Nelson symposium. Ka rawe, Karen.

Ka rawe too to Jane Groufsky and Anna Deacon for their new publication for Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum. The fourth in a series exploring the museum’s collections, Heirloom Textiles takes a look at some of the earliest European garments in its holdings. Anna presented at the 2025 CTANZ symposium on the research methodology used to reproduce some of these garments, and this book provides more detail on that work. It’s available from the museum and online ($15).