The Textile Research Centre: Help for a New Home is Needed
Since 1991, the Textile Research Centre (TRC) in Leiden has been quietly building one of the most remarkable collections of textiles and dress anywhere in the world. What began as a small independent foundation now holds over 42,000 objects: quilts and quilt tops from the 1830s, Dutch regional dress, Coptic liturgical garments, Middle Eastern embroidery, hand-knitted socks, flour sack dresses, and countless other pieces that map the way textiles connect to culture, identity, and survival.
Kilim sample, mid-20th century, handwoven wool, cotton. Image courtesy of the TRC archives.
The TRC is not a museum in the traditional sense. It is a working centre of knowledge: a place where a lace sample might be examined next to the tool that made it, where embroidery is researched both as art and as anthropology, where a student from Tokyo might share a workroom table with a forensic specialist studying fibres. Its library of 6,500 volumes, its open-access online catalogue, and its encyclopaedia of embroidery, TRC Needles, make it an extraordinary resource for designers, makers, historians, and anyone drawn to the story of cloth.
Chapan Coat, Afghanistan, late 20th century, cotton, silk, synthetic. Image courtesy of the TRC archives.
Two central questions shape its work: what do people wear to say who they are? And how are textiles made, from fibre to finish? These questions ripple through every exhibition, course, and lecture the TRC runs, be it about Scandinavian embroidery, the politics of dress, or the mechanics of pre-industrial looms.
Palestinian embroidered panel. Cotton and silk. Depicting a tree with oranges (symbol of prosperity) and doves of peace holding streamers in the colours of the Palestinian flag. Image courtesy of the TRC archives.
Now, after 15 years in its current premises, the TRC faces a turning point. The collection has outgrown its home at Hogewoerd. With the support of Leiden Council, the centre is currently in the process of moving to a larger building close to Leiden’s main station. The vision is bold: expanded exhibition space, new workshops on subjects ranging from natural dyes to jewellery, a photographic studio, a textile laboratory, and a library annex that can finally house its growing collection.
Handmade backstrap loom with hand dyed (ikat) and woven cloth, Indonesia, late 20th century. Image courtesy of the TRC archives.
But moving an archive of this scale (thousands of boxes of textiles, garments, and books) comes at a cost. The TRC needs to raise €250,000 to cover the move, renovation, and new facilities. Thanks to a generous patron, nearly half is secured, but the rest depends on support from the wider community.
For those of us who care about textiles, the TRC is an irreplaceable resource. Supporting its move is not simply a donation; it is a way of ensuring that the study of textiles remains as expansive, rigorous, and inspiring as the material itself.
Every contribution, however small, will help the TRC secure its new home and continue to grow as a centre for textile knowledge. If you would like to help with a donation, please click here.
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Further Information:
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Read more about the TRC in the Selvedge Issue 106, Cloth and Identity.
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Image Credits:
Lead: Hungarian Garment as featured in the exhibition From Sweden to Sardinia: European Embroidery, 2017 at The Textile Research Centre, Leiden.
All other images as credited in photo captions.