Dear all,
On day 7 we had a long program ahead of us. We started the day with a guided tour through the exhibition in the Jordan Museum, followed by a tour in the conservations rooms. Sadly the second floor of the museum still is not opened, and it it is uncertain when it will be open. The first floor took us through some of Jordans early history. Most of it was Jordans pre-history. In the conservation rooms, Nihad Hendawi conservator at the museum, told us a little bit about what they were used for. It is very rare that they deal with textiles.
After the guided tour we had 7 presentations followed by questions and discussion. First up was Nihad Hendawi and Fatma Marii giving a presentation on Preserving Techniques for the Textile Collections at the Jordan Museum, followed by Maj Ringgaard: Preserving the Danish Textile Heritage. This was folowed by a short discussion and a coffee break. After the coffee break we continued with Anna Karatzani: The Use of Metal Threads in the Decoration of Eclesiastical and Secular Textile in Greece, followed by Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood: North African and Middle Eastern Embroidery. After another discussion it was time for a well deserved lunch. The last three speakers of the day and at the conference was Jorie Johnson, Kerstin Andersson and Valentina Gamba. Jorie Johson made a presentation on: From Ancient to Anew, Felt Making Achievments. Kerstin presented on: Why are people doing textiles tours? and it ended with a presentation by Valentina Gamba and her colleague Prof. Dr. Hani Hayajneh, a consultent of UNESCO. This ended with a short discussion.
After yet another break with fruit and water it was time to end the workshop with a summing up. This was done by Ulla Lund Hansen, who went through all the presentations. After Ulla had finished, the participants could ask questions for the organisers: Eva Andersson, Mary Harlow and Jihad Kafafi. Many of the participants thanked the organisers for a well planned workshop, but it was also time for more serious questions. What had we accomplished with the workshop, and how could we sustain traditional textile craft?
The day ended with a lovely dinner at the Toledo Hotel.
Stay tuned....
Camilla