Home

Fig. 1. Kasuri cloth sample (TRC 2017.1478-23). Japan, 20th century.This April, I began my research fellowship at the TRC Leiden as the first junior fellow in the TRC Fellowship Programme, sponsored by the Gieskes-Strijbis Foundation, Amsterdam. My project, Thread, Dye, and Pattern: A Historical Study of Japanese Kasuri Techniques in the TRC Leiden Ikat Cloth Sample Collection (Pepin Collection), focuses on the extraordinary technical and artistic complexity of Japanese kasuri textiles preserved in the TRC collection.

Japanese kasuri — a form of ikat in which yarns are resist-dyed before weaving — is one of those textile traditions that becomes more fascinating the closer one looks. At first glance, the fabrics may appear deceptively simple: indigo blues, geometric forms, softened edges (compare TRC 2017.1478-23; Fig. 1). Yet under magnification, entire worlds of technical decision-making emerge. Tiny variations in binding, dye penetration, thread tension, and weave alignment all contribute to the final pattern.

During these first months, much of my work has focused on developing methods for closely analysing the kasuri samples in the TRC collection. Through this research, I aim to better understand which dyeing and weaving techniques are represented in the samples, how yarn structure and resist methods interact to create patterns, and whether particular textiles can be linked to regional Japanese kasuri traditions such as Kurume kasuri from Fukuoka, Iyo kasuri from Ehime, or Ryukyu kasuri from Okinawa.

Charly Sajjad Baumann and Dr. Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood, 15 May 2026This year I am completing my Bachelor’s degree in Fashion Design at the University of Applied Sciences HTW Berlin. For my bachelor’s thesis, I am focusing on Afghan embroidery, with a special emphasis on traditional Hazara embroidery. As this topic is personally very important to me, I wanted to approach my work not only creatively but also in a well-founded academic way. Therefore, I began searching online for information, sources, and research institutions that deal with traditional textiles.

During my research, I discovered the Textile Research Centre (TRC), Leiden, in the Netherlands. This centre is dedicated to the study of traditional textiles, crafts, and embroidery from various cultures around the world. I found it particularly fascinating that it also holds information and textile collections from Afghanistan.

After a short time, I knew that I absolutely wanted to visit this place to learn more about Afghan embroidery and its cultural significance. So I traveled from Berlin to Leiden. The journey was very exciting for me because I knew it would be highly important for my bachelor’s thesis.

Find the books you have long been looking for, and help support the TRC by buying some of them! 

We are going to have our annual book sale on Saturday 13^th June, starting from 10.00 until 15.00. Hundreds of second-hand textile, clothing and accessory books will be on sale, at very reduced prices! 

The TRC regularly receives donations of books. We select them en see whether we can use them and whether the titles may already be included in the extensive TRC textile library. If we cannot use the books, we very much want to pass them on to other textiles friends against a low price.

Why don't you pop in and have a look? You may find the book that you have long been looking for. You will also have the chance to see the TRC’s current exhibition about appliqué textiles called khayamiya which come from Egypt, as well as seeing the TRC’s new building and garden, and of course meeting TRC staff and others.

Our address is: Boerhaavelaan 6, 2334 EN Leiden, just behind the Leiden Central Railway Station.

The textiles and garments from the tomb of the Egyptian pharaoh, Tutankhamun, who died ca. 1323 BC, have to date received scant attention, although they constitute the largest group of items from the tomb, and they certainly will provide a wealth of information about the state-of-the-craft of Egyptian and Middle Eastern textile production in the second half of the second millennium BC. The rooms of the tomb, when opened 100 years ago, contained more than 400 garments and textiles, many of them embroidered.

The textiles have been studied extensively by Dr Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood, director TRC, and during this lecture she will give a general introduction and discuss the garments that were placed in the tomb to be worn by the pharaoh in his after-life. Some of these dated to the time that he was still a young boy, others were made for him when he had grown up. Many of these, if not all, were worn by Tutankhamun himself.

During this Sunday afternoon lecture, Dr Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood, director TRC and the author of various books on ancient Egyptian clothing, will discuss the textiles found in the 1920s in the tomb of the Egyptian pharaoh, Tutankhamun. The lecture will focus on some of the most spectacular of the garments, namely the embroidered clothes, such as the imitation leopard skin fto be worn by a priest and various decorated garments that have a clearly non-Egyptian origin. Gillian Vogelsang will also show relevant replicas of the various garments.

• Date: Sunday, 31 May 2026.
• Time: 14.00 - 16.00 pm. 
• Venue: TRC Leiden, Boerhaavelaan 6, 2334 EN, Leiden.
• Lecturer: Dr. Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood.
• Language: English
• Costs: 7.50 euros (to be paid on the day itself).
• Coffee/tea are provided.

Please register in advance: Dit e-mailadres wordt beveiligd tegen spambots. JavaScript dient ingeschakeld te zijn om het te bekijken.

Fig. 1. Postage stamp issued in Cyprus in 1981 to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the visit of Leonardo da Vinci to Cyprus. Above: The Duomo in Milan. Below: A piece of Lefkara lace.The TRC Leiden is very pleased to announce a special workshop on Lefkara or Lefkarika lace, scheduled for 21 May, and repeated on 22 May. The workshops are given by Eleni Anemomilou, who is coming especially to The Netherlands to give these and other workshops. Her trip is organised by the Cyprus Handicraft Service. 

Lefkara lace or whitework is one of the embroidery techniques that were traditionally practised in Cyprus. It is a form of cutwork with satin stitch details. It is often classed as a form of embroidered lace. Nelleke Ganzevoort wrote a detailed blog about this fascinating technique five years ago, which the TRC published on 21 December 2021. In 2009, the Lefkara lace technique was included in the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Lefkara lace is said to originate from the village of (Pano or Kato) Lefkara, Cyprus, and is locally called tayiadha (compare the Italian term punto tagliato, for cutwork ). Lefkara lace is said to have been developed in the time of the Venetian occupation of Cyprus (1489-1571), when reticella work was introduced to the island and local women copied the whitework's appearance, but using a different technique.

Another interesting, busy and intriguing day at the TRC! We have just had the opening of the TRC’s first exhibition in our new building on the Boerhaavelaan, here in Leiden. The exhibition is about khayamiya, a form of appliqué from Egypt.

From left to right: Prof. B. ter Haar - Romeny, Chairman TRC; Mrs Nanda Jagusiak, guest; Mrs Mariham Youssef, Deputy Head of Mission, Egyptian Embassy; H.E. Mr. Emad Magdy Hanna Kamel, Egyptian Ambassador to the Netherlands; Dr Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood, Director TRC; Ms. Christina de Korte, co-curator exhibition. Photograph: Mrs Flora Kovacs Wester, TRC Fellow.

Some months ago, we discussed what the first exhibition should be about. It was important that it would represent the activities and collection of the TRC, and add something new to the subject, as well as being colourful! We wanted to start the new exhibition cycle with a warm glow that would leave people feeling intrigued and inspired. It also had to be something that would tell us about how to use our new building and exhibition spaces, not so easy as it sounds as we cannot fix anything to the walls because of the nature of the wall coverings (see a previous blog about a technique that in Dutch is called betengeling).

What could be better than an exhibition about khayamiya from Egypt, especially as one of our interns, Christina de Korte, had just spent several months learning how to make this form of appliqué in the historic Street of the Tentmakers in Cairo? So Augusta de Gunzbourg, our curator and exhibition maker, and Christina joined forces to curate the exhibition.

The Spring 2026 issue (No. 227) of the international magazine HALI includes a six-page article, with some splendid photographs, explaining the creation of The Atlas of World Embroidery (Princeton University Press, Febr. 2026). The article and book were written by Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood, director of the TRC. A Dutch version of the book, Atlas van de Borduurkunst, came out on the same date and was published by WBooks.

The article is published on pp. 228-229, 230-231, and 232-233.

HALI Vol. 227, 2026, pp. 228-229.

Fig. 1. Copper and enamel Amsterdam School-style panel, by Marie Kuyken. Photograph: S. Anderson.A recent visit to the Museum Het Schip in Amsterdam sent me scurrying to the TRC ‘s on-line catalogue. Het Schip, in the Amsterdam-West neighbourhood, is a historic, architectural gem in glowing red brickwork. Designed in 1919 by Michel de Klerk, this social housing complex included 102 flats, a post office and a school—made expressly for impoverished, working-class families. It pioneered a new expressionist style of architecture called the Amsterdamse School.

The Amsterdam School’s attention to detail encompassed not just buildings, but also the furniture and lighting inside the buildings—including textile components, from the curtains and rugs, to wall paper and upholstery. Some of the textile designers of this style are the subject of Het Schip’s latest exhibition: “Unseen Talent: Women of the Amsterdam School.”

The Dutch designer Marie Kuyken (1898-1988) was one of the Amsterdam School pioneers. Her father set up an engraving and art studio in Haarlem, where he developed his own style of cloisonné, based on much older Byzantine enamelling techniques.

Marie started working as a designer in his studio as soon as she graduated. Her expressionist style won high praise from critics. One critic wrote in 1918 that in her enamel and copper decorative panels “glows the precious inlay in a beautiful, enchanting splendour of colours” (Fig. 1).