In March 2012 the second international Symposium on Hallstatt-Textiles will take place in Vienna. The three-day symposium will be organized by the Museum of Natural History Vienna, the University of Applied Arts Vienna, the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna and the Austrian Society for Textile-Art-Research in co-operation with the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands.
Since more then a hundred years methodical research was carried out in the pre-historic saltmines of Hallstatt. The excavated textiles belong to the most ancient in the world. The majority of these finds date back to the proto-Celtic area and are up to 3500 years old.
The aim of this symposium is to present the new results of an interdisciplinary research project on coloured Hallstatt-Textiles, to compare them to textiles known from simultaneous cultures and to discuss the present use of historic dyeing and textile techniques in science and art. The symposium wants to offer a platform for exchange of ideas between participants of different backgrounds as archaeology, biology, chemistry, dyeing, conservation and restoration, textile research and textile art. The symposium is advisable to all, who are interested in historic dyeing and textile techniques, textile art and the nowadays use of natural dyes. Particularly the recently re-discovered ancient knowledge and data of the use of natural dyes will provide valuable information for the application of environmentally friendly and sustainable dying methods.
The participants of the symposium will have the possibility to visit an exhibition on the same topic as the symposium and to participate at a performance created by students of textile art.