Queen Sirikit Museum of Textiles First International Symposium

June 28, 2013

The First International Symposium at the Queen Sirikit Museum of Textiles ‒ Weaving Royal Traditions Through Time: Textiles and Dress at the Thai Court and Beyond will take place in Bangkok from 5‒9 November 2013. Papers will cover Indian, Chinese, and Cambodian textiles for the Thai court; a late-19th-century Royal collection of Indonesian batik from the Inner Court; Thai influence on Burmese Royal dress; 19th-century tribute dress and textiles at the Chinese, Siamese, Burmese, Shan and Lan Na Courts; preserving Royal collections; and dressing modern royalty. In addition to pre- and post-conference tours, the programme will offer special opportunities to see behind the scenes at the new museum and visit private collections of Southeast Asian textiles not accessible to the general public. The conference will be in English (with Thai as the second language). Registration is open until the end of September.

From HALI 176

Thailand’s Royal Textile Museum

Nine years in the making, the Queen Sirikit Museum of Textiles in Bangkok opened in May 2012. The museum is a gift to the Thai people from Queen Sirikit and her SUPPORT Foundation, which was established in 1976 to encourage the production of traditional Thai handicrafts. Its mission is to collect, display and preserve, and to serve as a centre for all who wish to learn about textiles, past and present, from Southeast, South and East Asia. There is a special emphasis on costume and textiles pertaining to the royal court. Additionally, its goal is to create public awareness of Thai identity and culture and the beauty of Thai traditional textiles, through research, exhibition and interpretation. The QSMT is located in the grounds of the Grand Palace in the Ratsadakorn-bhibhathana Building, which dates from 1870. For many decades the Ministry of Finance, the building has been completely remodelled behind the original façade into a state-of-the-art museum, including Thailand’s first dedicated textile conservation laboratory.
www.queensirikitmuseumoftextiles.org

The Museum’s facade

Images from Gallery 2 below: Fashioning Tradition: Queen Sirikit Creates a National Dress for Thailand tells the story of the Queen’s creation, in the 1960s, of a new national dress for Thai women. The presentation includes historic court textiles, archival photographs and film, and more than thirty glittering examples from Her Majesty’s own wardrobe.