New Zealand Costume and Textile Association Symposium
2012 Symposium Location and Theme TBC
Previous Symposium
2011 Symposium
Friday 17th and Saturday 18th June 2011
Tauranga Art Gallery
2011 is a year of celebration for the New Zealand Costume & Textile Association, as this volunteer-run organisation approaches the milestone of its 10th annual symposium.
Join us in Tauranga for two days of papers that celebrate the textiles, costume and fashion that accompany many of the special moments in our lives and histories.
This year the symposium theme is simple. In the words of 80s funksters Kool and the Gang in their 1984 chart-topper Celebration we have invited our presenters to “Celebrate good times, come on” From the wide-ranging response, 20 presentations were selected that promise to make the 2011 symposium an event celebrating fabric, fashion and frivolities the world over. The full programme will be announced shortly.
2011 keynote speakers announced
The Costume & Textile Association is excited to announce our keynote speakers for the 2011 symposium. This year we will be joined by Auckland Museum Exhibition Developer Georgina White, and Liliana Pomazan, Senior Lecturer in the Fashion programme at RMIT University in Melbourne.
Both keynote speakers are acclaimed writers in the field of fashion and textiles. Georginas Light Fantastic: Dance Floor Courtship in New Zealand takes a trip through the culture of our dance-halls, from Victorian days through to modern school balls. Liliana was co-editor of the recently released Australian Fashion Unstitched: The last 60 years - a history of Australian fashion that covers topics as diverse as the swimwear industry, fashion photography and the contemporary avant-garde.
NZCTA 2011 Symposium Programme
NZCTA 2011 Symposium Registration Form
For any further information on the symposium please contact us via this form.2010 Symposium
Saturday 12 - Sunday 13 June 2010
TheNewDowse, Lower Hutt
Historically, and within current practice, costume and textiles are synonymous with survival, and are certainly no stranger to disaster. The 2010 New Zealand Costume and Textile Association conference will address the perilous theme of Hanging by a Thread. We look forward to receiving moving, inspirational, and thought provoking papers that tell tales of disaster and survival.
In April 1968 the inter island ferry Wahine headed into Cook Strait, loaded with passengers and freight. Among her various items of cargo was a small brilliantly coloured cocktail dress, lovingly packed in a suitcase. As the ferry came to its ill-fated end on Barrett’s Reef, the suitcase and dress were abandoned as its owner fled to safety on the last lifeboat. Months later “out of the fuel oil, the slimy silt and rust of the Wahine’s hold,” the dress was rescued and restored to its former glory - its miraculous recovery attributed to the survivalist properties of pure wool. To the promoters of wool this story was not only of the survival of a woman and her favourite party dress, but ammunition for an industry fighting to survive the synthetic revolution and willing to exploit every promotional opportunity at its disposal, even a national disaster.