The symposium will take place at Museum Catharijneconvent on 11 and 12 January 2024 and coincides with the exhibition Fashion for God on religious vestments from Dutch hidden churches from 1580 to 1800, which runs until 21 January 2024.
Reuse in religious and secular dress
With Dutch catholic vestments as a starting point, a wide variety of papers will provide an international context of ecclesiastical vestments and practices in other European countries and also expand our views into the world of secular fashion to discover parallels in both worlds.
Over the centuries vestments were very prominent and precious objects in the catholic liturgy and were produced with the utmost reverence, artisticity and skill. They were used and cherished at the same time, and typically had multiple lives as they were repaired, reused and sometimes repurposed. In the seventeenth century Dutch Republic, reuse of fragments and material was common, and reuse of past styles and iconographies created a holdfast for Catholics who harkened back to their glorious undisputed hegemony. In the eighteenth century, religious vestments were commonly sourced from ladies’ dresses. Donated to church these fashionable silk fabrics changed from the secular to the ecclesiastical realm and thus became a colorful center at the altar.
Symposium
In this two day symposium Museum Catharijneconvent brings together experts from museums and universities from across Europe to present recent research and exchange insights and knowledge on historical vestments and fashion. The symposium will take place at Museum Catharijneconvent on 11 and 12 January 2024 and coincides with the exhibition Fashion for God on religious vestments from Dutch hidden churches from 1580 to 1800, which runs until 21 January 2024.
Program
The symposium language is English and the program will include these speakers:
- Pim Arts (Museum Catharijneconvent, Utrecht)
- Richard de Beer (Museum Catharijneconvent, Utrecht)
- Mary Brooks (Durham University)
- Mireille Gilbert (UCLouvain)
- René Lugtigheid (textile conservator, formerly Amsterdam University)
- Hélène Malice (UCLouvain)
- Gudrun Sporbeck (independent art historian, formerly Museum Schnütgen, Cologne)
- Helen Persson-Swain (independent art historian, formerly Victoria & Albert Museum)
- Jenny Tiramani (School of Historical Dress, London)
- and others
See the link below for the full program.
The symposium fee is € 115,- for two days. The program, tickets and additional information are available on the museum website.