The 2023-24 TEG membership registration is now closed. Please note TEG takes a break from June- August 2024.  The new season starts in September 2024 and continues until May 2025 with monthly events. 

All the events on this page are for TEG members only. You need to be a member of FOM to become a TEG member.

To become a member of TEG for the new season (advertised in May 2024), please click on the button below which will lead you to a sign-up form. Please mention 'TEG 2024-25' as a reference when making payment.

Annual TEG enrollment and membership covers invitations to all TEG events and all admissions (unless extra charges apply for private galleries, workshops, etc.) plus costs associated with providing this wonderful array of programme offerings.  

Image: Drinks and Dresses 2023 

Our much loved annual event is now back! This is an opportunity to get to know our fellow TEG members better, and to indulge in some riveting textile chat. Dress in a conversation-starter textile or bring along a favourite piece, come with your partner or friend, and get some (clearly labelled) food/ drinks to share- et voila we have a recipe for a convivial evening! Please sign up for the event on the website so that we have an idea of the numbers and can plan better for the event.

THE DATE AND TIME OF THIS EVENT WILL BE CONFIRMED AFTER THE EXHIBITION OPENS

This is a private tour of Fukusa: Japanese Gift Covers from the Chris Hall collection, held at The Peranakan Museum, for TEG members

Why and how do we give gifts? The act of gifting is deeply ingrained and takes many forms across histories and cultures. In Japan, the practice of formally presenting gifts with silk covers called fukusa began in the Edo period (1603–1868). These covers were draped or folded over gifts for a variety of occasions, from seasonal festivities to important personal events. Each fukusa was carefully chosen to evoke the circumstance of the gift and to convey a message to the recipient. Exquisitely embroidered, woven, painted, and dyed, they are some of the finest examples of Japanese textile artistry.

The exhibition presents a group of fukusa and related Japanese textiles from the renowned Chris Hall collection, explored through the themes of craft, trade and exchange, and the act of gifting across cultures. It celebrates a major gift of Japanese art from Chris Hall to ACM. 

THIS EVENT IS NOW OVER

Peter Lee is a curator, textile collector, researcher and author of the book, Sarong Kebaya - Peranakan Fashion in an Interconnected World. His fabulous textile collection includes trade textiles such as Indonesian Batiks and Indian Patolas, amongst many others. He has curated several exhibitions including Port Cities: Multicultural Emporiums of Asia, 1500-1900, at the ACM, Amek Gambar - Peranakans and Photography at the Peranakan Museum, and is the honorary curator at NUS Baba House. Peter Lee is a frequent speaker at Singapore's museums and has hosted a television series aired on Channel News Asia called The Mark of Empire. 

This is a rare treat for TEG members to visit his residence, and view his textile collection. Further details will be provided to registered participants.

THIS EVENT IS NOW OVER

Do you think you have seen everything that museums here have on offer? Fewer than 10% of National Heritage Board museum artefacts are actually on display at a time. The remainder are at the Heritage Conservation Centre, an ordinary looking building in Jurong. This is where artefacts are stored and conserved, including textiles. Join us for an exclusive private TEG tour of the Heritage Conservation Centre. This tour will include an introduction to the HCC and artefact storage, a special peek into the textile lab, as well as some opportunities for Q & A.

Please register early - we need to send the Centre the list of attendees in advance. We are required to leave personal belongings in the lockers provided; handphones are permitted – however photography is strictly not allowed during the guided tour.

For further information, please visit the HCC website.
Location:
Heritage Conservation Centre
32 Jurong Port Road, Singapore 619104

Sign up opens 1 February

THIS EVENT IS NOW OVER

The Manila Acapulco Galleon Trade special exhibition at the ACM narrates how trade linked Asia to Europe and the Americas from 1565-1815. Armed Spanish ships called galleons crossed through the Pacific Ocean between Manila in the Philippines and Acapulco on the western coast of Mexico laden with silks and various textiles, porcelain, spices and furniture, silver, vegetables, fruits, livestock, as well as missionaries, soldiers and shipwrights.

In this private tour for TEG members, ACM docent Geraldine Limpo walks us through beautifully mounted artefacts of this global trade which includes some textiles inspired by the rich exchange of goods, traditions and philosophies. We will jointly appreciate their impact on fashion on and ways of thinking in Manila, Mexico and Spain. The tour will be followed by a show-and-tell on piña (the textile extracted from the leaves of the Spanish red pineapple) by our very own Lynelle Barrett. 

Geraldine completed her postgraduate diploma on Asian Art History at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London. She guides at the ACM, the National Gallery Singapore and Gillman Barracks.

THIS EVENT IS NOW OVER

Slowstitch studio belongs to textile designers, Ann Ngamdamronk and Sergey Tishkin who explore creativity through colour on cloth. They are based in Chiang Mai and create one-of-a-kind textiles for home and living. Their hand-dyed textiles are created using traditional methods and botanical materials. Their pieces are inspired by “old masters’ works, forgotten patterns and reinterpretations of traditional designs”. Find out more about Slowstitch studio at https://slowstitchstudio.com

In this Zoom lecture, they will share with us how they got into textiles, their product creation process, their sources of inspiration and how they run their studio. The presentation will be followed by a question-and-answer session.  The session will the moderated by a TEG co-ordinator. Zoom details will be shared with registered participants prior to the event.

PC: Slowstitch Studio

THIS EVENT IS NOW OVER

TEG members always look forward to Shared Passion month. This annual show-and-tell event is a wonderful opportunity to share and learn from fellow members. Bring one of your favourite textiles to share with the group -- a piece that is either something you wear or keep as a collector's item. It's always more interesting if you have some knowledge about the piece -- such as provenance or the techniques used to create it -- but if even if you don't, you may have the opportunity to draw upon the knowledge of other members. Each member will be given a chance to speak about their textile piece. Please note that it is not required to bring a textile piece; you are still welcome to attend for the learning experience. Please note that this event tends to run longer than 2 hours. Light snacks will be be offered.

Venue: The address will be sent via email to registered participants. 

THIS EVENT IS NOW OVER

Palestinian Embroidery, known as tatreez , is an integral part of Palestinian culture. The distinctive, dense cross stitch designs, often worked in shades of red on dark blue or black, decorate the traditional festive dresses of Palestinian women. Over the past 100 years the practice of this embroidery has changed. This talk will take us on a journey from rural farm women, with their distinctive motifs and colors, to ‘factory’ production in collectives to earn needed money, and finally to the use of embroidery as protest. Location will be emailed to participants the week before the event.

After the talk, you are welcome to try your hand creating a small cross stitch piece using traditional tatreez methods, colors, and motifs. Instructions and all material will be provided. Please bring your reading glasses!

THIS EVENT IS NOW OVER

In 1927 Rabindranath Tagore, the great Indian writer, artist and philosopher, spent several weeks visiting Java and Bali. He became fascinated with the local culture and found that many traditions that had disappeared in India, were still flourishing in Indonesia (India, for more than a millennium, exercised a pronounced cultural impact on Indonesian islands). In particular, Tagore became interested in Javanese batik – the technique of wax-resist dyeing that once used to be widespread also in India. He collected several dozens of Javanese batiks and on return to Santiniketan in West Bengal, he supported the introduction of the batik technique into the curriculum of the local art school. Batik production in West Bengal continues until today.\
The talk will be illustrated with a couple of batik saris that were made by members of the Karu Sangha cooperative at Santiniketan.

About the speaker:

Dr Maria Wronska Friend is an anthropologist and museum curator with a particular interest in people’s relationship to their material culture. She has been associated with James Cook University since 1992. Born in Poland, in 1978 she received an MA in Anthropology from the University of Lodz and in 1987 a PhD from the Institute of Arts, Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, for the thesis Javanese batik and European art in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She is the author of dozens of articles and several books, among them Batik Jawa bagi Dunia. Javanese Batik to the World, published in Jakarta in 2016.

The talk will be held at the Ixora room in The Peranakan Museum

THIS EVENT IS OVER

Length: Plan to spend about 2.5-3 hours
Venue: Home studio of Lynelle Barrett

Did you ever wonder what a warp was? Or weft? Are you curious about how ikat is made? Interested in the names and colours of natural dyes? If you are new to the study of traditional textiles or just want a better understanding of the terms used by textile collectors and experts, TEG is here to help. Spend a relaxed morning with Lynelle as she explains various terms to help your understanding and appreciation of textiles. There will also be a hands-on opportunity to try weaving on a loom. Light refreshments will be served. Priority will be given to new TEG members who have not attended this session before.

About the Speaker:
Lynelle Barrett is a textile artist and weaver living in Singapore. Enchanted by the region’s traditional textiles, she has immersed herself in learning how they are created, as well as the culture around them. She researches traditional weaving and natural dye techniques and travels to learn from indigenous weavers.

THIS EVENT IS OVER

Andrew Gn: Fashioning Singapore and the World, traces the fashion journey of Andrew Gn, one of Singapore’s most prolific designers. Through five sections and over 100 representative works, this extraordinary retrospective exhibition explores Gn’s roots in Asia, cross-cultural expressions of Asian and Western art, and celebrates his distinctive aesthetics, craftsmanship, and global impact.

ACM Docent Yvonne Sim will take us around this special exhibition with a focus on textiles. Yvonne is an FOM volunteer docent with the Asian Civilisations Museum, and Singapore Art Museum. She has Singaporean and has volunteered with FOM for over 7 years.

Please assemble at ACM lobby by 09:55am.

Exhibition text/ Image credit: ACM

THIS EVENT IS NOW OVER. Our usual holiday event has been moved to the end of the season. This is an opportunity to get to know our fellow TEG members better, and to indulge in some riveting textile chat. Dress in a conversation-starter textile or bring along a favourite piece, come with your partner or friend, and get some (clearly labelled) food/ drinks to share- et voila we have a recipe for a convivial evening! Please sign up for the event on the website so that we have an idea of the numbers and can plan better for the event.

THIS EVENT IS OVER. However we have a follow-on session strictly for TEG members on 28 April 2023. Please contact fomtegsingapore@gmail.com for more information.

Please join Kim Arnold for an informal talk on Kumihimo, which will cover its history, techniques, and some current uses.  These intricate braids have been used for centuries in Japan and are traditionally made with silk threads using special stands.  She will explore historical uses and discuss methods, materials, stands and shapes.  After the talk, interested participants can learn the Kongo Gumi, an 8-strand braided cord.  All materials will be provided. 

About the speaker:
Kim is currently co-coordinator for FOM Study Group and was a coordinator for TEG with Lynelle Barret from 2017 to 2020.  A passionate enthusiast for all hand arts, she has been practicing Kuminhimo for over 10 years.

This event is restricted to 15 participants. Venue details will be emailed to registered participants 2 days before the event. 

THIS EVENT IS NOW OVER.

This talk will focus on the vibrant and colorful Chinese silk textiles traded between China and Portugal through the Indian Run in the early modern period. It will examine the types of textiles that were progressively incorporated in Portuguese daily life as well as discuss the challenges that their study poses.

About the speaker:
Maria João Ferreira is curator at the Museu de São Roque in Lisbon (Portugal) and researcher at CHAM - Centre for the Humanities/NOVA-FCSH. Her studies focus on the consumption of Asian textiles in Portugal during the early modern period, most especially those made in China for the export market.

This talk is open to FOM members as one free trial session before signing up for TEG membership. 

THIS EVENT IS OVER.

The Philippine archipelago, home to hundreds of ethnolinguistic communities, cultivates shared cultures that are individually distinct. In the textile art tradition, there are commonalities in certain motifs and significations but the production and configuration of elements are varied in techniques and materials. All these reveal a wider cultural environment that is Asian yet definitively Philippine.

About the speaker: Norma A. Respicio is a researcher, writer, and teacher in the arts. She is the author of JOURNEY OF A THOUSAND SHUTTLES, the PHILIPPINE WEAVE published by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts in 2014, and co-author of INABEL, the Ilocos Weave, published by ArtPostAsia in 2015. Both publications received the Best Book in Art Award in the National Book Awards of 2015 and 2016 respectively. She is the co-author of PHILIPPINE WEAVING WAYS, published by HABI in 2020. She is a Professor Emerita at the University of the Philippines, Diliman, where she teaches courses in Philippine Arts, the Arts of Southeast Asia, and the Arts of East Asian cultures.

This event has been planned via Zoom. Please note the registration cut-off time for all Zoom events is the previous evening 8pm to enable us to send the zoom link to the registrants later that evening. 

Want to see the TEG event information from last season? Trying to decide if TEG is for you? Wish you could remember the name of a speaker from a past TEG event? Click below to download a list of TEG events from the past season back to 2012.