Saturday, March 9, 2013

10 a.m. Refreshments       10:30 a.m. Program

“From Royal Command to Reality: Creating The Queen Sirikit Museum of Textiles”

with

Dale Carolyn Gluckman

Independent Curator and Consultant, and Former Curator and Department Head,

Costume and Textiles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art

In 2003, Her Majesty Queen Sirikit of Thailand determined that the country needed a dedicated textile museum in recognition of the beauty and importance of textiles in Southeast Asian culture. Three years later, Dale Gluckman was invited to join a colleague to advise the Thai project architect and the prominent Thai archaeologist selected to spearhead the project. Soon, an international team of specialists—based in California, New York, Paris, Canada, China, Italy, and Bangkok—came together to create a state-of-the-art textile museum on the grounds of the Grand Palace with a collection ranging from the Queen’s couture wardrobe, to regional textiles of Thailand and beyond.  This presentation will focus on the challenges and pleasures of working with such a diverse team in creating a complex institution from the ground up, one that had to meet the demanding needs of textiles, address the divergent interests and knowledge levels of a mixed audience of tourists and residents (Thai and foreign), and present three opening exhibitions designed to honor Her Majesty’s work to preserve and promote the textile arts and indigenous crafts of Thailand.  Since its opening in May, 2012, the Queen Sirikit Museum of Textiles has succeeded in raising the bar professionally for museums not only in Thailand, but in much of Southeast Asia.

A double graduate of UCLA (B.A., art history and M.A., costume history,) Dale Carolyn Gluckman is the former head of the department of costumes and textiles at LACMA and an independent curator and consultant. She has curated more than two dozen exhibitions and lectured and published widely. Since leaving LACMA she has curated four exhibitions: Chinese rank badges, Indian embroidery, the work of Evelyn and Jerome Ackerman, and the kimono art of Itchiku Kubota. For the past six years she has been involved with the creation of the Queen Sirikit Museum of Textiles (QSMT) and is the co-author of the forthcoming English edition of the inaugural catalogue for the QSMT, In Royal Fashion: the Style of Queen Sirikit of Thailand.  Dale invites members of TMA/SC to bring examples of Thai textiles for show & tell.

Luther Hall,  Lower Level     St. Bede’s Episcopal Church

3590 Grand View Blvd.  Los Angeles, CA  90066-1904

Just south of the 10 freeway, and west of the 405, near the intersection of Centinela and Palms.  Free parking.

Admission:    TMA/SC Members:  Gratis                      Guests:  $10