Annual conference of the Dress and Textile Specialists subject specialist network.

The theme for 2023 is Networks and interchange: knowledge, skills and cultures across spaces

Venue is the Ulster Museum, Belfast, Northern Ireland

Full programme is available on DATS website

Conference outline:

Thursday 5 October

09:00 Arrivals

09:10 Welcome with Lisa Mason, DATS Chair

09:15 Keynote: Professor Catherine Harper, The British University in Egypt

The Stained and Bloodied Cloths of Ireland: a textiles and material culture view of Irish shame, oppression, morality and repression.

09:45-10:45 Ireland & networks

Another clean shirt… - Valerie Wilson, Curator of Textiles at Ulster Folk Museum (National Museums NI)

Design and Modernity in Ulster’s Interwar Linen Industry - Catherine O’Hara, Lecturer in Design History, Belfast School of Art

Net works: Insights from the study and conservation of a set of lace curtains from The Argory, Co.Armagh - Erinn Dunlea and Clara Low, Textile Conservation Limited

10:45-11:15 Refreshment break

11:15-13:00 Migration & transfer

Chintz: British India Connections - Madhu Manipatruni, Artist

Finding new perspectives on Paisley Museum’s shawl collection and the Paisley Pattern - Catriona Baird, Textiles Curator, Paisley Museum, OneRen

The Flower, the Labour, and the Sea: Seeing through the intoxication of Parsi Garas - Bhasha Chakrabarti, Artist

Questions (& comfort break)

Masseys for the Masses: Harry Massey and a London Fashion Empire - Liz Tragenza, Lecturer in Cultural and Historical Studies at London College of Fashion

Tartan at V&A Dundee - Kirsty Hassard, Curator, Exhibitions, V&A Dundee

13:00-14:00 Lunch

& Mending in Archives Working Group (MAWG) discussion table with Kate Sekules, Bard Graduate Center, Pratt Institute, Parsons NYC

14:00-15:30 Community & collaboration

Fragments of Our Time exhibition - Uthra Rajgopal, Independent Curator

The Play’s The Thing exhibition - Robyn Greenwood, Collections Manager, Royal Shakespeare Company

Reworking Collections through Hats Made Me - Yona Lesger, Curator, Hat Industry & Headwear at the Culture Trust

The Making of Crown to Couture at Kensington Palace - Polly Putnam and Claudia Acott-Williams, Curators, and Libby Thompson, Textile Conservation Supervisor of Costume, Historic Royal Palaces

15:30-16:00 Refreshment break

16:15-16:45 Keynote: Rachel Dedman

Embroidery and the Intifada: stitching resistance in Palestine

18:30 Conference dinner, Coppi Restaurant (ticketed separately)

Friday 6 October

09:00 - 10:00 DATS Annual General Meeting at Ulster Museum and via Zoom

10:00 - 11:00 Curator gallery talks, Ulster Museum

11:00 - 14:00 Refreshments, transition & visit to Ulster Folk Museum (costs not included)