Sensual Fabrics - Senses and Textiles for Today's Audiences.

What happens when we experience textiles beyond what we see?

SENSES COST Action invites contributions to the upcoming WG3 workshop “Sensual Textiles,” taking place in Guimarães, Portugal, in January 2027.

The workshop explores how textiles can be experienced through the senses in museum and heritage contexts, and how sensory approaches can contribute to the interpretation and understanding of textile collections. We are particularly interested in approaches that consider multisensory experience, museum practice, materiality, and the possibilities offered by digital technologies. The workshop will bring together researchers and heritage professionals for discussion, exchange and site-based exploration, including a visit to the Ducal Palace in Guimarães.

Are you working on textiles, sensory experience, museums, heritage, or digital approaches to material culture? We would love to hear from you.

Practical Details:
- Submission Deadline: 1 November 2026
- Submission Requirements: Abstract (300 words) and a short CV (max. 1 page), both in English.

Please send your proposal to Nuno Senos at nsenosfcsh.unl.pt
For further information, please visit the official workshop website: https://cost-senses.eu/activities/workshop-1-wg3-causing-sensation-senses-and-textiles-in-the-museum/

Organizers:
- Nuno Senos (Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal)
- Eloy Koldeweij (Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed / Cultural Heritage Agency, The Netherlands)
- Uta Coburger (Staatliche Schlösser und Gärten Baden-Württemberg, Germany)
- Lledó Ruiz Domingo (Universitat Jaume I de Castelló, Spain)