Cotsen Textile Traces Colloquium: Tracing Wiener Werkstätte Textiles

Thursday, April 21, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

Friday, April 22, 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m.

Saturday, April 23, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

The Cotsen Textile Traces Colloquium encourages research, facilitates critical discussion and supports the next generation of scholars and artists. Join established specialists, emerging professionals and students as they share their recent research and discoveries on Wiener Werkstätte textiles from the Cotsen Textile Traces Study Collection and related collections in Vienna and Switzerland. 

The Wiener Werkstätte, or Vienna Workshop (1903-1932), brought together artists and designers dedicated to the artistic production of utilitarian items in various media, including metalwork, ceramics and textiles. The workshop was a key participant in the development of modernism, especially with its textile and fashion divisions and the establishment of branches in Berlin, New York and Zurich.

This three-day international colloquium brings together different disciplines, including art and fashion history, gender and museum studies, as well as archival and social sciences. 

Keep reading to see the list of sessions and speakers, or download the complete schedule (PDF).

About the Cotsen Textile Traces Study Center and Collection

The museum’s Cotsen Textile Traces Study Center is dedicated to textile research and houses the Cotsen Textile Traces Study Collection, which represents a lifetime of collecting by business leader and philanthropist Lloyd Cotsen (1929-2017). One of the world’s most significant textile study collections, it comprises nearly 4,000 fragments dating from antiquity to the present, offering insights into human creativity around the world. The collection includes more than 300 Wiener Werkstätte textiles, representing some 50 designers and more than 200 patterns.

Organizers

The colloquium “Tracing Wiener Werkstätte Textiles” is organized by the Cotsen Textile Traces Study Center with the Institute of Art History and Museology of the University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland, and the Collection and Archive at the University of Applied Arts Vienna in Austria.

How to Participate

To join us for the colloquium, please register early to reserve your space. Once you have registered, we will email you the link for the colloquium on Zoom. We will also email registered participants a full program with the detailed schedule, abstracts and bios.

Thursday, April 21, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. EDT

10-10:30 a.m.
Welcome and Introduction
Lori Kartchner, curator of education, The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum
John Wetenhall, director, The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum
Gerald Bast, rector, University of Applied Arts Vienna, Austria
Marie-Eve Celio-Scheurer, academic coordinator, Cotsen Textile Traces Study Center
Régine Bonnefoit, professor of art history and museology, University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland

Panel 1: 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Wiener Werkstätte Textiles and Their Archives
Lara Steinhäußer, curator of the Textiles and Carpets Collection, MAK – Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna, Austria
Ursula Graf, art historian, Archive Backhausen, Klosterneuburg, Austria
Marie-Eve Celio-Scheurer, academic coordinator, Cotsen Textile Traces Study Center
Caitlin Condell, associate curator and head, Drawings, Prints and Graphic Design, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, New York

Break: 12:30-1 p.m.

Panel 2: 1-2 p.m.
Switzerland and Austria: Case Studies 
Monika Mähr, deputy director and curator, Historisches und Völkerkundemuseum, St Gallen, Switzerland
Janis Staggs, director of curatorial and manager of publications, Neue Galerie, New York

Closure of the day: 2 p.m.

Friday, April 22, 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m. EDT

Panel 3: 10-11:30 a.m.
Situating Wiener Werkstätte Textiles
Moderated by Michelle Jackson-Beckett, senior lecturer, University of Applied Arts Vienna, Austria  
Megan Brandow Faller, professor of history, City University of New York (CUNY), Kingsborough, N.Y.
Rebecca Houze, professor of art and design history, School of Art and Design, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Ill.
Markus Kristan, curator of the Architectural Collection, Albertina, Vienna, Austria

Break: 11:30 a.m.-12 p.m.

Panel 4: 12-1:30 p.m.
Continuing Wiener Werkstätte
Moderated by Wolfgang Ruf, collector and textile art dealer, Switzerland
Johannes Schweiger, co-founder, Wiener Times, Vienna, Austria
Verena Dengler, artist and author, Vienna, Austria
Kara Braciale, artist and educator, George Washington University, Corcoran School of the Arts and Design

1:30-2:30 p.m.
Keynote by Angela Völker
Angela Völker, textile scholar, retired curator of the Textiles and Carpets Collection, MAK – Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna, Austria

Closure of day: 2:30 p.m.

Saturday, April 23, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. EDT
A New Generation of Scholars

10-10:15 a.m.
Opening
Lori Kartchner, curator of education, The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum
Régine Bonnefoit, professor of art history and museology, University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland
Marie-Eve Celio-Scheurer, academic coordinator, Cotsen Textile Traces Study Center

10:15-10:45 a.m.
University of Applied Arts Vienna
Moderated by Régine Bonnefoit
Eva Marie Klimpel, Ph.D. student and textile conservator, Kunstsammlung und Archiv

10.45-11.30 a.m.
University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland, Institute of Art History and Museology
Moderated by Régine Bonnefoit and Marie-Eve Celio-Scheurer 
Tosca Cariboni, Alessandro Cicco, Alice Gianola, Nathalie Gür, represented by Chloé Marbehant and Emilie Thévenoz, M.A. students in museology
Lisa Cornali, Ph.D. candidate

11:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
George Washington University, Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, Decorative Arts and Design History
Moderated by Cecilia Gunzburger, adjunct professorial lecturer, Decorative Arts and Design History, George Washington University
Agnieszka Delikat-Taylor, M.A. student
Ana Perez Exposito, M.A. student
Ella Jones, M.A. student

12:15-12:45 p.m.
George Washington University, Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, Painting and Drawing, Studio Arts
Moderated by Kara Braciale, artist and educator, George Washington University, Corcoran School of the Arts and Design
Olivia Niuman, B.A. student

12:45-1:15 p.m.
George Washington University, Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, Art History
Moderated by Gillian Elliott, adjunct professor of art history, George Washington University
Kendall Hanner, M.A. student

1:15-1:45 p.m.
University of California, Los Angeles, Art History
Moderated by Sharon Gerstel, professor of Byzantine art and archaeology, UCLA
Sofia Pitouli, Ph.D. student

1:45-2 p.m.
Final Reflections