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We are pleased to call for applications from current graduate students to attend a workshop about textile studies, taking place on Friday March 4 2022 in Istanbul. The one-day event focuses on material from the eastern Mediterranean, with a specific aim of spurring dialogue across periods and disciplines, as well as the immense potential of studying textiles in Turkish collections. Please see below / the end of this message for details on eligibility and application.

Textiles were the second-most traded commodity in world history, second only to grain. In the eastern Mediterranean, silks feature as chief items of display in both Byzantine and Ottoman courts, woolens were worn by soldiers, peasants, and clerics alike, and townsfolk signalled their status and affiliations with expensive clothing, furnishings, and other accoutrements. Work in the textile sector encompassed expert designers, weavers, and tailors, as well as dyers, spinners, and amateur embroiderers. Across the region, men and women raised goats and sheep, and wore woolens, and bought, sold, traded, and re-used cloth both plain and fancy. While textiles shaped life and experience across time and place, they are not often the subject of serious, sustained engagement. This workshop aims to re-center textiles and to showcase the potentials for interdisciplinary study by bringing together academics, curators, professionals, and students.

The workshop is pleased to announce the following speakers and topics:
Sibel ALPASLAN ARÇA, Topkapı Sarayı Museum Osmanlı Kıyafet Koleksiyonu / Clothing from the Ottoman Dynasty; Hülya BİLGİ, Sadberk Hanım, Osmanlı işlemeleri ve işleme tekniği / Ottoman Embroideries and Techniques; Paul HEPWORTH, Conservator, 19th Century Ottoman Textiles / 19. Yüzyıla ait Osmanlı Tekstiller; Ivana JEVTIĆ, Koç University, Representations of Textile in Byzantine frescoes / Bizans Fresklerinde Tekstil Tasvirleri; Recep KARADAĞ, Istanbul Aydın University / Turkish Cultural Foundation, Dyestuffs and metal threads analysis, and textile technologies in Ottoman textiles / Osmanlı tekstillerinde boyalar ve metal iplik analizleri, ve tekstil teknolojileri; Eunice Dauterman MAGUIRE, curator emeritus, Gender-fluid garments, breastfeeding and holy persons in late antiquity/ Geç Antik Çağda Akışkan Cinsiyetli Kıyafetler, Emzirme ve Kutsal Kişiler; Çiğdem MANER, Koç University, Anatolia: A Major Hub for Textile Production During the Bronze and Iron Age / Anadolu: Tunç ve Demir Çağları’nda Önemli Tekstil Üretim Merkezi; Amanda PHILLIPS, University of Virginia, Textile Studies: Interdisciplinary Potentials / Tekstil Araştırmaları: Disiplinler Arası Olasılıklar; Gang WU, former ANAMED postdoctoral fellow; Understanding Byzantine silk production technology / Bizans İpek Üretim Teknolojisini Anlamak; Filiz YENİŞEHİRLİOĞLU, Koç University / VEKAM (Ankara), Tarihi Dokumak: Bir Kentin Gizemi: Sof / Weaving History: The Mystery of a City: Sof (Camlet)

The workshop is sponsored by the Barakat Trust for Islamic Art with the support of Koç University’s Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations (ANAMED), the Koç University Stavros Niarchos Foundation Center for Late Antique and Byzantine Studies (GABAM), and the American Research Institute in Turkey’s Istanbul branch.

The workshop will be in Turkish and English, with live translation during the Q&A as necessary.

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