Archaeology, Textiles and Preservation in Toronto

August 10, 2014

How have textiles – among the most fragile and vulnerable artefacts – survived over the centuries? This is a question of great significance to the Textile Museum of Canada curators in Toronto, who last year began to research and develop new ways to conserve and store archaeological textiles. A showcase of this research has been presented in a new exhibition, ‘The Eternity Code: Archaeology, Textiles and Preservation‘, which will run until 21 September 2014. A series of lectures and tours will also take place during the exhibition.

Objects such as woven cloth, baskets, rope and matting that have been integral to every culture and every historical moment – Paleolithic to contemporary – provide direct evidence of social, political, and economic conditions over time and space. ‘The Eternity Code’ explores how early weaving technologies were employed in social functions and symbolic communication, and show the need to preserve these valuable, cryptic relics of human history for future generations.

In 2013, the Textile Museum of Canada began to develop new approaches to the conservation of archaeological textiles to ensure access to valuable artefacts for future generations. Innovations introduced into the exhibition demonstrate the science of conservation as well as state-of-the-art advances in textile storage developed to provide the essential care and security of some of the most valuable and cryptic evidence of human civilisation.