Image: Cover of Textile Forum magazine, March 2012, Resist Dyeing.

The ETN (European Textile Network) is offering free membership from October until the end of 2020. The trial is a chance to find out more about the opportunities that the Network offers and connect with other like minded textile people. Anyone can register to join. The ETN was founded in 1991 with the aim of strengthening the idea of the European Community through the medium of textiles and promoting international exchange. Members are specialists, interested laypeople and institutions from the fields of textile art, handcraft, production, research and education. The free membership offers full access to all the features available to any ETN member.

Image: Eva Raiser-Johanson, In the Garden of the Queen II. Photo by Regine Hackenberg. From the ETN exhibition, Garden of Eden 2019.

After registration, you can start networking straight away by uploading your profile in the members area and on the platform, explore other interesting features on the website such as the online archive of the Textile Forum magazines. From 1982 to 2003, Beatrijs Sterk and Dietmar Laue, the founders of ETN, published Textile Forum, a high-quality trade journal that covered textile developments and events all over Europe four times a year. From 1993 the magazine also appeared in English and was closely linked to ETN. After the magazine was discontinued, ETN distributed news via digital newsletters.

Image: Rolands Krutovs, LT Virgin Garden. Photo by the artist. From the ETN exhibition, Garden of Eden 2019.

ETN’s work includes organising conferences and event. The 20th ETN conference is planned to take place in St. Petersburg from 23rd to 26th of May 2021. This event will be organized in cooperation with the Stieglitz Academy for Applied Arts, St. Petersburg. The theme of the conference is Codes - stories in textiles. A wide range of lectures illuminate countless stories that are hidden in textiles and reflect the character of different cultures - an exciting topic that visitors will also encounter in the exhibitions and the wonderful collections of the St. Petersburg museums.