The New Zealand Costume & Textile Association’s annual symposium
Did you know there was a New Zealand Costume & Textile Association? There is! And every year they have a symposium, which is a great opportunity to meet other textile and costume enthusiasts from around New Zealand (and sometimes Australia and the US and the rest of the world), and to hear a bunch of talks on a whole variety of fascinating textile subjects. In previous years the talks have ranged from overviews of the corsets in New Zealand museum collections, to sociological comparisons of the collection habits of knitters and drug addicts, to in-depth studies of extent 1860s dresses, and a truly memorable talk about homo-eroticism in 1970s knitwear patterns. Last year the Symposium was in Tauranga, and I got to go spend four delicious days with the wonderful Jo-Anne of Zho Zho’s Textile Adventures. This year the symposium is in sunny Nelson, and sadly Jo-Anne is no longer with us. I’m finding it a little hard to think of a NZCTA symposium without her enthusiasm and warmth and ability to bring people …