‘Under the magnifying glass: object-related research in museum costume-/ fashion collections’ marks the retirement of Bianca M. du Mortier, as the Rijksmuseum’s curator of Costume for nearly 43 years.

For this occasion, the Rijksmuseum has invited a number of internationally renowned speakers to present their research at a two day symposium in Amsterdam.

Preliminary Programme

Day 1 – Thursday 20 April 2023
Moderator: Bianca M. du Mortier

8.45 - 9.20
Registration and Coffee & tea

9.20 - 9.25
Welcome
Taco Dibbits, General Director of the Rijksmuseum

Morning session I - Introduction

9.25 - 9.45
Bianca M. du Mortier, former Curator of Costume, Rijksmuseum
‘We have to get on. So much time & so little to do. Wait a minute. Strike that. Reverse it!’

9.45 - 10.10
Keynote speaker: Prof. Jenny Tiramani, Principal & Researcher, School of Historical Dress, London (UK)
Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something True?

10.10 - 10.30
Zenzie Tinker, Director/ Lead Conservator, Zenzie Tinker Conservation, Brighton (UK)
Revealing Hidden Layers - conserving the Westminster Abbey Royal Funeral Effigies

10.30 - 10.45
Questions & discussion

10.45 - 11.20
Coffee & tea break

Morning session II With the aid of conservators & external scientists

11.20 - 11.40
Dr. Adelheid Rasche, Sammlungsleiterin Textilien, Kleidung und Schmuck, Germanisches National Museum, Nuremberg (G)
A flower bouquet for Bianca

11.40 - 12.00
Pascale Gorguet Ballesteros, Chief Curator, Palais Galliera, Fashion Museum of City of Paris/ Teacher Researcher, Sorbonne University, UFR d’Art et d’Archéologie, Centre André Chastel (F)
Some insights into the Palais Galliera’s 18th century Dress Collection

12.00 - 12.20
Madelief Hohé, Curator Fashion & Costume, Kunstmuseum, The Hague (NL)
Making the Connection: Dutch Dress Detectives Reporting Back

12.20 - 12.35
Questions & discussion

12.35 - 14.00
Lunch

Possibility to visit presentation of a selection of underwear from the RM costume collection in the ‘Special Collections’ (Ground Floor)

Afternoon session I - Interdisciplinary research

14.00 - 14.20
Suzanne van Leeuwen, Curator & conservator of Jewellery, Rijksmuseum
Pearls and gems. The use of precious, and not so precious, material in accessories and jewellery

14.20 - 14.40
Suzan Meijer, Head of Textile Conservation Studio, Rijksmuseum
Dr. Marijn Stolk, archeologist, University of Amsterdam (UvA)
Francien Bossema, PhD student, Research Institute of Mathematics & computer science in the Netherlands (CWI), Amsterdam
Interdisciplinary Research Approaches for Unravelling the Phallic Purses

14.40 - 15.00
Dr. Jenny Boulboullé, University of Amsterdam (UvA)
Burgundian Black: a Collaborative Approach

15.00 - 15.15
Questions & discussion

15.15 - 15.45
Tea & coffee break

Afternoon Session II - Different approaches…

15.45 - 16.05
Dr. Lesley Miller, Prof. of Dress & Textile History, University of Glasgow, Scotland (UK)
Masterpieces: Crafting a Career in Couture

16.05 - 16.25
Joanna Marschner, Senior Curator, Historic Royal Palaces, London (UK)
Marrying Tradition and Innovation to Inform the Dressing of the Meiji Empress

16.25 - 16.45
Questions & discussion – wrap up of day 1

16.45 - 17.00
A festive moment to mark Bianca du Mortier’s retirement from the Rijksmuseum

17.00 - 18.00
Drinks and Finger food

18.00 - 20.00
Visit to the Vermeer exhibition

Day 2 – Friday 21 April 2023
Moderator: TBA

9.00 - 9.30
Coffee & tea in the foyer

Morning Session I From the curator’s perspective…

9.30 - 9.35
Introduction day 2

9.35 - 9.55
Gieneke Arnolli, former Curator of Fashion & Textiles, Fries Museum, Leeuwarden (NL)
The wanderings of Icelandic stockings since the 17th century

9.55 - 10.20
Dr. Denis Bruna, Conservateur en chef Mode et Textiles, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris (F)
Manly hair or coquettish hair? Beards, moustaches and beardless faces

10.20 - 10.40
Inge Specht, Curator Het Schoenenkwartier (Shoe & Leather Museum), Waalwijk (NL)
Fleur Dingen, Assistant curator Het Schoenenkwartier (Shoe & Leather Museum), Waalwijk (NL)
Fashioning Super Heroes. Building Muscles by Using a Medieval Leather Technique

10.40 - 11.00
Questions & discussion

11.00 - 11.30
Coffee & tea break

Morning Session II Different approaches…

11.30 - 11.50
Mieke Albers, former Senior Textile conservator, Rijksmuseum
Spectacularly Embroidered Objects in Only White or Black

11.50 - 12.10
Marian Leech, Phd student, University of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania (US)
The 17th-Century Fur & Wampum Trades: New Netherland and the Dutch Republic

12.10 - 12.30
Mila Ernst, historian & project manager of ‘Modemuze’, Amsterdam
Unlocking Fashion Heritage

12.30 - 12.40
Questions & discussion

12.40 - 13.30
Lunch

Afternoon Session I The curator, the conservator & the scientist

13.30 - 13.50
Suzan Meijer, Head of Textile Conservation Studio, Rijksmuseum
Moving forward together 2.0: from restoring textiles to interdisciplinary research

13.50 - 14.10
Dr. Art Ness Proaño Gaibor, Chemical analyst, Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (RCE), Amsterdam
Early Modern and Modern Textile Research Using State of the Art Analytical Techniques

14.10 - 14.30
Yoram Goedhart, researcher Netherlands Forensic Institute (NFI), the Hague
Forensic Investigation of Microtraces on an Item of Dutch Eighteenth Century Clothing in the Rijksmuseum Collection

14.30 - 14.50
Questions, discussion & closing words

14.50 - 15.20
Coffee & tea

Find more information about registration on the website of the Rijksmuseum: https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/whats-on/lectures-symposiums/under-the-magnifying-glass