International EuroWeb Workshop «Making, Wearing, Displaying: Textiles and the Body» – Programme Now Available!

International EuroWeb Workshop

Making, Wearing, Displaying: Textiles and the Body in Pre-Modern Societies

3-5 May 2023

National Museum of Ethnology & School of Arts and Humanities of the University of Lisbon, Lisbon (PT)

Organising Committee:
Francisco B. Gomes (UNIARQ; SAH – University of Lisbon, PT)
Audrey Gouy (University of Lille, FR)
Elsa Yvanez (Centre for Textile Research, University of Copenhaguen, DK)
Magdalena Wozniak (Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology, University of Warsaw, PL)
Catarina Costeira (UNIARQ; Municipality of Sintra, PT)
Louise Quillien (CNRS, FR)

 

Context and Aims:

Recent archaeological and historical research has come to highlight a point that anthropological and ethnographic narratives have already long recognized: that bodies play a crucial role in the construction, display and negotiation of social, cultural, and individual identities. Theories of embodiment – a term that has become a true buzzword across the Social Sciences and the Humanities – have made substantial headway in these research fields, refocusing our understanding of past human experiences.

New interpretative frameworks have in fact arisen which depart from previous idealist frames of reference to ground those experiences on the materiality of the human body and the specificities of its engagement with the world around it. Embodied experience, practice and the role of the senses have come to the fore as cutting-edge topics of analysis, shedding new light on the role of the body as an identity locus and an arena for the negotiation of both social belonging and specific senses of the self.

Few components of the material world of past communities had a more intimate relationship with the body than textiles. Their very production reflects a set of defined gestures full of cultural meaning. Worn as garments, they protected and sheltered the body against the elements. As intricate elements, they also inspired people in the development of visual codes through which to project specific social and cultural messages, signalling either belonging or distinction.

They concealed and revealed, smoothed or enhanced, shaped and constrained, mapping onto the body a range of social and cultural meanings, norms and habits, which were at the core of individual socialization and collective culture-making. The way they were fashioned – for rest or movement, to enhance certain actions and bodily attributes and conceal others, to differentiate or homogenize – had tremendous cultural significance, shaping the socially conventional techniques of the body (sensu Mauss) individuals were expected to master. In this sense, they contributed to the creation of specific regimes of embodiment, while becoming a true social skin (sensu Turner) which acted as an interface between the self and society.

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The International EuroWeb Workshop Making, Wearing, Displaying: Textiles and the Body in Pre-Modern Societies aims at exploring diverse bodily experiences of textiles and their socio-cultural significance through an interdisciplinary lens. We wish to bring together historical, archaeological, anthropological and bioanthropological perspectives to explore common topics of interest and the shared theoretical and methodological tools that can be deployed in present and future research on the relationship between textiles and the body.

In doing so, and based on the newest research and latest discoveries, the workshop aims at covering this topic in as broad a sense as possible, and will therefore be structured along four major thematic axes:

  1. Thinking about the Body: Theoretical Tools from the Social Sciences, the Humanities, and Beyond
  2. The Making Body: Capturing the Gestures of Craftspeople
  3. Wearing Textiles: Insights from Archaeology, Iconography and Written Sources
  4. Textiles in Motion: The Dressed Body in Movement

 For each of these thematic axes, a panel of invited speakers will discuss specific topics and lines of research, introducing participants to current theoretical and methodological concepts and debates, and offering thought-provoking case studies aimed at fuelling a collective debate and reflection. The programme will also include practical sessions and a visit to the reserves of the National Ethnology Museum.

The Organizing Committee is keen to open this debate to other voices, topics, and case studies, and has therefore invited proposals for short presentations (c. 15 minutes) related to the workshop’s thematic scope. Participants will approach the topic of the relationship between textiles and the body in pre-modern societies from different perspectives – historical, archaeological, anthropological, or other –with a strong focus on interdisciplinary approaches and well-developed conceptual framework.

A limited number of places are available for prospective local attendees wishing to follow the sessions at the National Museum of Ethnology and the School of Arts and Humanities of the University of Lisbon. Prospective attendees are kindly requested to fill this registration form.

Any questions about this workshop can be sent to: workshop.textiles.body@gmail.com

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PROGRAMME

Wednesday (03/05/2023)

National Museum of Ethnology

(Auditorium)

09:00 – 09:30

Welcome and Opening Session

09:30 – 10:30

Keynote:

Mariana Diniz (UNIARQ – Centre for Archaeology of the University of Lisbon; School of Arts and Humanities of the University of Lisbon, PT)

Prehistoric Textiles as social fabrics – some comments on bodies, gestures, and artefacts from the Western European archaeological record

10:30 – 11:00

COFFEE BREAK

11:00 – 13:00

Session 1: Thinking about the Body: Theoretical Tools from the Social Sciences, the Humanities, and Beyond

Francisco B. Gomes (UNIARQ – Centre for Archaeology of the University of Lisbon; School of Arts and Humanities of the University of Lisbon, PT)

Thinking (About) Bodies: Tracing Theoretical and Conceptual Approaches to the Body in the Social Sciences

Elsa Yvanez (Centre for Textile Research – University of Copenhagen, DK)

Thinking through textiles and the body in archaeology. Theoretical perspectives and research avenues from ancient Sudan

Filomena Silvano (CRIA – Centre for Research in Anthropology; NOVA University of Lisbon – School of Social Sciences and Humanities, PT)

Les petites reines et leurs couturières : sur les vêtements, les corps et la performativité rituel

13:00 – 14:30

LUNCH

14:30 – 16:30

Practical Session: Experimenting and Experiencing Textiles and Garments, with Ulrike Beck (Berlin University of the Arts, DE), Anique Hamelink (University of Amsterdam, NE) and Kayleigh Saunderson (University of Vienna, AU)

16:30 – 17:00

COFFEE BREAK

17:00 – 18:30

Participant Presentations

Gearasimoula Ioanna Nikolovieni (Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World, Brown University, US)

Wearing textiles? The iconography of figurines from the Neolithic Aegean

Tina Boloti (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, GR)

Nudity in the Aegean Bronze Age societies: social norms and ritual symbolisms

Elena Balduzzi (Charles University, Prague, CZ)

Cinerary urns from Villanovan Verucchio: body & dress                        

Ronja Lau (Ruhr-Universität-Bochum, DE)

Hallstatt Period Textiles from Slovenia and their Reconstruction

 

Thursday (04/05/23)

National Museum of Ethnology

(Auditorium)

09:00 – 11:00

Session 2: The Making Body: Capturing the Gestures of Craftspeople

Eva Andersson Strand (Centre for Textile Research – University of Copenhagen, DK)

Practises of practise: Between Crafts People and Digital Tools

Ana Maria Silva (Laboratory of Prehistory, CIAS; Department of Life Science, University of Coimbra; CEF – University of Coimbra; UNIARQ – University of Lisbon, PT)

Activity-induced dental modifications: Possible evidence of fiber processing in Late Neolithic to Bronze Age samples from Portugal

Agata Ulanowska (Faculty of Archaeology – University of Warsaw, PL)

Traditional Textile Techniques from the Perspectives of a Modern (Academic) Teacher and Her Students: Kinaesthesia, flow, work satisfaction and social aspects of textile making experienced by non-professional beginners

11:00 – 11:15

COFFEE BREAK

11:15 – 12:15

Participant Presentations

Sofie Louise Grue Husted Andersen (University of Copenhagen, DK)

The Past in Motion                                        

Katrin Kania (Pallia – Mittelalter hautnah, DE)

The Making Body: Nimble Fingers, Subtle Gestures

Stephanie Aulsebrook (University of Warsaw, PL)

Dressed Finally in Finery. Preliminary Research on Gold Textile Appliqués in the Mycenaean Mortuary Sphere

 12:15 – 13:45

LUNCH

 13:45 – 15:45

Session 3: Wearing Textiles: Insights from Archaeology, Iconography and Written Sources

Karina Grömer (Natural History Museum Vienna, AU)

Wearing textiles in European prehistory – Theoretical and methodological aspects of research and dissemination

Cecilie Brøns (Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, DK)

The power of images: reading dress from ancient iconography

Louise Quillien (CNRS – ArScAn – Archéologies et Sciences de l’Antiquité [UMR7041], FR)

The clothed body in Mesopotamia: terminology, social aspects, and symbolic meanings

15:45 – 17:15

Visit to the Galleries of Rural Life of the National Museum of Ethnology

17:15 – 17:30

COFFEE BREAK

17:30 – 19:00

Participant Presentations

Leyre Morgado-Roncal (University of Granada, ES)

Roman Archaeological Textiles from Spain: an insight into social practices and body tales

Claudia Daniela Vega Medeiros (Complutense University of Madrid, ES)

Immodest women of the 7th century Eastern Roman Empire: what not to wear according to John of Damascus

Maria Herrero-Otal (Departament de Prehistòria, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, ES), Anna Homs (Independent Researcher, ES), Raquel Piqué (Departament de Prehistòria, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, ES), Paloma Vidal-Matutano (Departamento de Geografía e Historia, Universidad de La Laguna, ES)

Preliminary results of the wearing objects of the Prehispanic societies from Gran Canaria (Canary Islands, Spain): raw materials and techniques

Eglė Kumpikaitė, Daiva Milašienė (Kaunas University of Technology, LT)

Etymology of Folk Clothing Terms Related to the Body Parts

 21:00

DINNER (by registration)

Padaria do Povo (Rua Luís Derouet 20A, Lisbon)

 

Friday (05/05/2023)

School of Arts and Humanities of the University of Lisbon

(Library Building, Room B112.C)

 

09:00 – 11:00

Session 4: Textiles in Motion: The Dressed Body in Movement

Susanna Harris (University of Glasgow, UK)

Sensory approaches to past textiles and dress

Ulrike Beck (Berlin University of the Arts, DE)

Pattern Recognition and Reconstructing the Qualities of Clothing in Motion: The experimental Dimension of Scientific Wearing Tests and How to Understand Clothing and Motion in a Mathematical System

Audrey Gouy (University of Lille, FR)

Dress for dance in the Ancient World

11:00 – 11:30

COFFEE BREAK

11:30 – 13:00

Practical Session: Textiles and Dance (with the Ancient Greek Dance Company Terpsichore)

(Greek Courtyard of the School of Arts and Humanities of the University of Lisbon)

13:00 – 14:30

LUNCH

14:30 – 16:00

Session 4 (Textiles in Motion – Continued)

Magdalena Woźniak (Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology – University of Warsaw, PL)

Royal apparition: snapshots from medieval Sudan.

 Participant Presentations

Emmanuelle Palermiti (CNRS – ANHIMA – Anthropologie et Histoire des Mondes Antiques, FR)

Hiding and displaying: the role of clothing in the myths and cults of Demeter

Alexandra Makin (University of Glasgow, UK)

How the senses informed textile use in early medieval England (450-1100CE): The Galloway Hoard as a case study

 16:00 – 16:30

COFFEE BREAK

16:30 – 17:30

FINAL DISCUSSION

17:30 – 18:00

CLOSING SESSION

International EuroWeb Workshop “Making, Wearing, Displaying: Textiles and the Body” – PROGRAMME

International EuroWeb Workshop “Making, Wearing, Displaying: Textiles and the Body” – POSTER