Watch this space for other one-time or ongoing programs that explore various aspects of textile study, creation and preservation.
Upcoming in 2026
Spring 2026 Colloquium
Thursday, April 16th from 9 AM–12 PM PDT
TSA’s international Spring 2026 Colloquium, “(re)Membering,” will convene April 16, 2026, in a hybrid format at Long Beach, California’s Museum of Latin American Art, the nation’s leading museum of modern and contemporary Latin American art and culture. This event is the thematic capstone of a multi-year journey: from identifying omissions in“(re)Claiming Narratives” (2022), to envisioning new possibilities in “(re)Imagining Futures” (2023), to documenting active change in“Shifts and Strands: Rethinking the Possibilities and Potentials of Textiles” (2024), to reassembling histories in “(re)Membering” (Spring 2026), and finally, to constructing sustainable and equitable systems through “(re)Generation” (Fall 2026).
This half-day gathering will bring together artists, scholars, curators, and cultural practitioners for a vibrant exchange centered on textiles as expressions of identity, resilience, and belonging. The Colloquium will highlight innovative textile practices and research , while fostering cross-cultural dialogue and collaboration among artists, educators, and institutions.
The TSA Colloquium is built upon a core commitment to diversity, equity, and anti-racism. Key goals include dismantling dominant historical narratives, expanding educational and publishing efforts, and most importantly, prioritizing the transmission of ancestral and artisanal knowledge and skills. We place a strong emphasis on sharing case studies that utilize abolitionist, anti-racist, decolonial, and equity frameworks to stimulate learning and discussion. Learn more about the colloquium.
Featuring:
Keynote Speaker Fafnir Adamites
Plenary Presentation by Maria Maea
Panel Discussion with Yasmin Mora, Maru Garcia, and Katrina Bruins
21-Day Textile Study Tour to Rajasthan & Gujarat
with Artist Ai Kijima
September 10–October 1, 2026
Join the Textile Society of America and artist Ai Kijima for a rare, in-depth study tour through India’s living textile regions. This 21-day program runs September 10–October 1, 2026 and travels through Udaipur, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Barmer, Bhuj, and Ahmedabad. Led on the ground by Dr. Chiman Dangi and Shokat Ali, the tour gives small groups privileged access to artisans, studios, markets, museums, and village communities where textile knowledge is practiced and transmitted every day.
This program is designed for artists, curators, scholars, collectors, educators, and dedicated textile enthusiasts who want more than a surface-level visit. Over three weeks you will learn by doing, observing, and conversing with makers whose work carries generations of skill and meaning.
What to Expect
You will participate in hands-on workshops in Bandhani tie-dye, Ralli quilting, Ajrakh block printing, Patola double-ikat, Rogan art, brocade weaving, woodblock carving, and a range of embroidery and weaving techniques. The tour includes guided visits to major institutions and private collections, including guided access to the Calico Museum of Textiles and the Living & Learning Design Centre (LLDC), and a lecture and studio visits at NIFT Gandhinagar. You will also take part in collaborative community projects, traditional celebrations, and market visits that reveal how textiles shape social life.
TSA is committed to fair-wage and ethical exchange. All artisans, guides, and cultural partners involved in this program set their own rates, and TSA does not determine or reduce those payments.
Itinerary Highlights
- Arrival and orientation in Udaipur with a residency visit and collaborative project in Badanga village
- Bandhani workshops and a saree or ghagra-choli celebration in Jodhpur
- Ralli quilt workshops, Sufi singing, and desert village visits in Jaisalmer and Barmer
- Patola weaving demonstration and a visit to Rani ki Vav in Patan, a UNESCO World Heritage site, followed by transfer to Kutch and Bhujodi weaving communities
- Rogan art demonstrations in Nirona and curated visits to LLDC, private textile collections, and Bhuj Haat artisan market
- NIFT lecture, brocade weaving demonstrations, woodblock carving, and guided tours of Ahmedabad’s old city and the Calico Museum of Textiles
- Farewell dinner and closing reflections in Ahmedabad before departure
Practical Information
- Dates: September 10–October 1, 2026
- Group Size: Enrollment is intentionally limited to preserve access and depth of experience.
- Rooming: Single and double occupancy options are available. TSA offers a roommate matching service for travelers seeking double occupancy.
- Inclusions: Lodging, group meals, museum admissions, workshop and studio fees, activity fees, and private coach travel between locations.
- Exclusions: International airfare, airport transfers to your home city, and travel insurance.
- Payment: An initial non-refundable deposit is required at registration. Full payment terms and deadlines are available on the registration page.
How to Register
Registration is open now. Because space is limited, interested travelers are encouraged to reserve their place as soon as possible. To request more information, contact the TSA at info@textilesocietyofamerica.org.
Questions and Pre-Departure Connections
If you would like help finding a roommate, indicating special interests, or connecting with other participants before the tour, please note your preferences on the registration form. TSA will offer an optional pre-departure virtual meet-and-greet for registered travelers.
This 21-day study tour is an opportunity to see textiles as lived practice, not just objects. Travel with the Textile Society of America and artist Ai Kijima to learn from the people who keep these traditions alive, and return with new skills, deep context, and enduring connections.
Reserve your place today. Space is limited.
Archived TSA Programs
The Roycal Inca Tunic: A Conversation with Andrew James Hamiliton
Click anywhere on the video above to begin watching.
This is a recording of a special event, held on January 9, 2026, featuring a conversation with Andrew James Hamilton, winner of the R. L. Shep Memorial Book Award for The Royal Inca Tunic: A Biography of an Andean Masterpiece (Princeton University Press, 2024). Hamilton is joined by members of the Hamilton is joined by the 2025 R. L. Shep Memorial Book Award Committee members Dr. Julia Hendon and Dr. Kaja McGowan, along with Dr. Vandana Bhandari, Director of Awards and Scholarships for the Textile Society of America. The committee was Chaired by Dr. Florina H. Capistrano-Baker.
About the panelists:
Andrew James Hamilton
Andrew James Hamilton is a scholar, curator, author, and artist specializing in Indigenous art and architecture of the Americas, with a focus on analyzing objects, especially textiles and those made from biological materials, to understand their cultural meanings. As Curator of Arts of the Americas at the Art Institute of Chicago, he stewards the collection, including ancient to contemporary Indigenous American art and colonial Latin American art, and works to present inclusive histories and build community relationships. He curated Jeremy Frey: Woven. His recent book, The Royal Inca Tunic: A Biography of an Andean Masterpiece (2024), examines a famous, unfinished Andean tunic at Dumbarton Oaks, arguing it was woven for the last Inca emperor, Atahualpa. His previous book, Scale & the Incas (2018), analyzed the role of scale in Inca material culture and worldviews, featuring numerous hand-drawn plates. Hamilton holds a PhD and MA from Harvard and a BA from Yale. He was a member of the Princeton Society of Fellows.
Dr. Florina Capistrano-Baker
Dr. Florina H. Capistrano-Baker was formerly museum director of the Ayala Museum (Philippines) where she is currently a consultant. Formerly research assistant for Oceania in the Department of the Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, she curated the exhibition “Divine Protection: Batak Art of North Sumatra” and authored the book Art of Island Southeast Asia: The Fred and Rita Richman Collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Metropolitan Museum of Art and Yale University Press, 1994). Since 2000 her research has focused on Philippine specificities within a metanarrative of global exchange from the 10th -13th and 16th -19th centuries, investigating historical patterns and genealogies of forms, cultural hybridity,and renegotiated identities. Her book Philippine Ancestral Gold (NUS Press and Ayala Foundation, 2011) documents previously unpublished material suggesting early trade with neighbors in the Indian Ocean and South China Sea.
Dr. Julia Hendon
Dr. Julia A. Hendon is professor of anthropology, associate provost, and director of the Johnson Center for Creative Teaching and Learning at Gettysburg College. She is author of Houses in a Landscape, winner of the 2015 Linda S. Cordell Book Award in Archaeology, and coauthor of Material Relations.
Dr. Kaja McGowan
Dr. Kaja M. McGowan’s areas of interest involve South and Southeast Asia with emphasis on Indonesia, particularly Java and Bali (both historically Indic in orientation) studied in relation to the subcontinent. Rather than see India and Indonesia, for example, as modes of influence between two points, her scholarly interests encourage studying the reciprocal relationships between neighboring countries in Southeast Asia. Her research explores the flow of ideas and artifacts along this highway — architecture, bronzes, textiles, ceramics, performance traditions, and visualizations of texts like Panji Malat, the Ramayana, and the Mahabharata — artifacts that move and those that are locally produced. This accounts for the shaping of ideas and the development of styles across vast geographical and historical distances. Her work is governed by the complex ways in which History of Art and Visual Studies intersect with Anthropology, Material Culture, Colonial and Post-colonial Theory, Performance, Gender, and Religious Studies.
Documenting the Last Indigo Dyer of San Cristóbal
A Virtual Film Screening + Conversation with Katarin María Laruelle Aránguiz & Karla Faro Ruiz
Click anywhere on the video above to begin watching.
This is a recording of a special Giving Tuesday event, held on December 2, 2025, featuring Katarin María Laruelle Aránguiz, a TSA Research Travel Grant awardee, presenting her fieldwork and film documenting the indigo-dyeing traditions of San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico.
In memory of Francisco Álvarez Montoya
June 1941 – December 2025
San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas
The sky is bluer today.
Laruelle Aránguiz’s project captures the knowledge of master dyer Francisco Álvarez Montoya through filmed oral histories and dyeing demonstrations. This work is a critical intervention as synthetic dyes increasingly displace these ancestral techniques. Developed in partnership with the Centro de Textiles del Mundo Maya, the project will culminate in public exhibitions, artisan workshops, and academic publications.
TSA is honored to host a preview of the director’s cut of this documentary, followed by a conversation with Laruelle Aránguiz and Karla Faro Ruiz from the Centro de Textiles del Mundo Maya A.C..
Read more about this project on TSA News
Read Katarin’s article about this project for TSA News
About the panelists:
Katarin María Laruelle Aránguiz
Katarin María Laruelle Aránguiz is a PhD candidate in Archaeology at McGill University, whose work merges material culture studies with anthropological research. Her methodology prioritizes ethical engagement with descendant communities, ensuring their voices are central to the discourse surrounding their textile heritage.
Karla Faro Ruiz
Karla Faro Ruiz is an education coordinator of the Center for Textiles of the Mayan World. She has been was awarded the Premio Internacional Ibermuseos (Ibermuseums Education Award) for her educational project, “Playing with the Mayan Textile Universe,” an initiative that promotes knowledge and appreciation of textile traditions among new generations. During her participation at the cultural center, Faro Ruiz highlighted the community value of this recognition and emphasized the importance of strengthening ties between museums, artisans, and diverse audiences. She also announced that dyer and weaver Francisco Álvarez Montoya was named a Living Human Treasure, recognized as the last master weaver of indigo in the region, an ancestral practice he has passed down for decades. Karla’s work stressed that this national recognition demonstrates the urgent need to protect traditional knowledge, especially that at risk of disappearing, as it represents an essential part of the country’s cultural heritage.
bftn x TSA Present: Woven From Nature
A Virtual Film Screening + Conversation
Thursday, November 6, 2025 at 12 PM EST
Registration is closed.
Join the Textile Society of America in collaboration with the Black Fiber & Textile Network (bftn) for a virtual honoring Black fiber heritage, artistry, and sustainable practice. This special event will feature a screening of Woven From Nature, a short documentary film produced by bftn, followed by a live panel discussion with Lauren Baccus, Deandra Eubanks, Teju Adisa-Farrar, and Mahdiyyah Muhammad.
Woven From Nature offers an intimate look at the stories and practices of Black fiber producers, natural dyers, and textile artists who work at the intersection of craft, community, and climate justice. The film celebrates ancestral knowledge, earth-based production, and collective healing, centering sustainability, environmental justice, and cultural memory.
Following the screening, hear directly from members of the Black Fiber & Textile Network in a panel discussion exploring the power of Black-led fiber work, land stewardship, and community-driven systems of care. A live audience Q&A will close the hour-long program.
About the Panelists:
Teju Adisa-Farrar (she/her)
Teju is the founder and ecosystems director of the Black Fiber & Textile Network (bftn). She is the creator and host of Black Material Geographies podcast. Teju helped to develop and was inaugural Co-Managing Director of the Fibers Fund. She now serves as a member of the Advisory Council. Teju has worked with diverse institutions including with the Smithsonian’s Cooper Hewitt Museum, the United States Embassy of Botswana, national environmental nonprofits such as Earthjustice and Fibershed, as well as a member of the United Nations Conscious Fashion and Lifestyle Network. Teju has spoken at several colleges including: Princeton University, the Rhode Island School of Design, and the University of Oregon. Her work supports the creation of regenerative fiber systems and climate resilient strategies for Black folks, Indigenous communities and people of the global majority. Teju uses a global lens focusing on local and regional strategies that produce alternative economies at community-scale. She provides opportunities and advocacy for Black folks to connect with plants, nature and our ecosystems of survival. A multihyphenate, Teju is currently based on Mvskoke Land (Atlanta) and goes wherever else she is called. She loves water, dancing, soccer, hiking and reading books.
Mahdiyyah Muhammad (she/her)
Mahdiyyah is a multidisciplinary Upcycle Textile Artist and Regenerative Fashion Educator blending ancestral African diasporic traditions with modern sustainability. She transforms textile waste into wearable art, leads workshops nationwide, and founded the platforms Upcycle Web Directory and Build Your Own Paid Workshop, empowering artists and Black upcyclers. Her work has been featured in Vogue, Forbes, and WWD.
Deandra Eubanks (he/they)
Deandra Eubanks is a multi-dimensional artist and has been the Co-Founder, Chief Marketing Officer, and Director of Farm Programs at Seed2Shirt since 2019. Seed2Shirt is the first black-woman-owned vertically integrated apparel manufacturing company and global cotton merchant in the U.S. Seed2Shirt’s work is centered on fostering circular, value-driven relationships between the Black Diaspora, the land, its stewards, and the materials we create, contributing to an equitable, just and regenerative future.
Lauren Baccus (she/her)
Lauren Baccus is a textile artist, educator and independent researcher whose work centers around the construction of Caribbean identity through textile, costume and craft. Her ongoing project, Salt and Aloes, is a digital resource for art, design and material culture of the Caribbean. She is currently based in Miami, FL
About the Black Fiber & Textile Network (bftn)
The Black Fiber & Textile Network is a global network of over 50 members, including farmers, fiber processors, natural dyers, designers, upcyclers, and artists. Working with plant-based fibers and dyes, bftn members engage in sustainable and regenerative practices that address climate change, social and racial justice, environmental healing, and community wealth creation. Through workshops, events, and co-learning spaces, bftn uplifts the role of Black fiber producers and cultivates systems rooted in equity and ecological balance.
Interested in Sponsoring this program?
We welcome conversations about customized sponsorship packages and cross-promotional opportunities. Let’s work together to celebrate and uplift Black fiber arts, sustainable design, and community care.
Email us at sponsor@textilesocietyofamerica.org.
Thank you to our in-kind supporters: COMOCO Cotton
New Professionals Convening 2019: Envisioning Textiles Futures
Click anywhere on the image above to begin listening.
This is a recording of the panel conversation from Textile Society of America’s New Professionals Convening: Envisioning Textiles Futures, held on July 27, 2019 at the Fabric Workshop and Museum in Philadelphia.
Panelists include Joy Davis, Regan de Loggans, Lynnette Miranda and Karen Hampton. The panel was moderated and organized by Caroline Hayes Charuk.
Program Description:
At the Fabric Workshop and Museum in Philadelphia, TSA presented a panel discussion devoted to envisioning a field that approaches cultural production with justice and equity, and to examine the ways that structures within museums, universities, and informal spaces can support or hinder movement towards a vibrant future in line with these goals.
This program was intended for TSA members and curious prospective members who are embedded in institutions and systems as makers, researchers, teachers and curators. Attendees were invited to bring experiences within their own institutions to the discussion, in hopes that they find new knowledge and connections to take back to their practices.
The half-day program began with a panel discussion. All panel participants come from backgrounds in making and/or the study of textiles and direct a portion of their professional efforts towards interfacing with institutions related to art, craft, textiles, and other aspects of material culture as it relates to supporting people of color from divergent backgrounds.
The second part of the day included a tour of Monumental Cloth, The Flag We Should Know, Sonya Clark’s exhibition at the FWM, and a behind-the-scenes look at archival boxes from previous artists in residence.
Panelists:
Karen Hampton has shown her woven and stitched narrative artwork nationally since 1994 and has been teaching college since 2008. Her specialties are surface design, embroidery, weaving and courses that address Art and the African Diaspora. Karen is currently an Assistant Professor of Fiber at MassArt, and a board member of the Textile Society of America.
Pronouns: she/her
Regan de Loggans (Mississippi Choctaw/ Ki’Che’ Maya) is an art historian, curator, and educator based in Brooklyn on Lenape land. Their work relates to decolonizing, indigenizing, and queering institutions and curatorial practices. They are also one of the founders of the Indigenous Womxn’s Collective: NYC.
Pronouns: they/themme
Lynnette Miranda’s ongoing research focuses on the social and cultural impact of contemporary art and media, critically examining social practice, contemporary craft, performance, new media and video work. She is passionate about centering artists and practitioners of color, not only through representation, but through building support systems and redistributing resources. Lynnette is currently the Program Manager at United States Artists in Chicago. She has worked at leading arts institutions including Creative Time, ART21, and the Art Institute of Chicago.
Pronouns: she/her
Joy Davis is an independent scholar of fashion and cultural studies. She has B.A.s in History and Media Theory from University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC). She is a pending Masters candidate at FIT’s Fashion Studies program. In 2016 she joined Unravel Podcast as a host and producer. In 2018 she launched her own contemporary gallery in Baltimore, MD that has a majority focus on artists of color. She writes about subject matter that is underdeveloped in academia and with the public. Her work transcends many fields of study which includes: fashion, history, art, media, and performance among people of color through history. Her current research focuses on fashion and race analysis in Spanish colonial paintings.
www.wallergallery.com
www.unravelpodcast.com
Moderator:
Caroline Hayes Charuk approaches sculpture, printmaking and video from a background in textiles, ceramics, and hobbyist craft materials. She is a former member of CTRL+SHFT Collective in Oakland, CA, a studio and exhibition space focused on supporting women, nonbinary and trans-spectrum artists. She has taught workshops at the Berkeley Arts Museum, the De Young Museum, Richmond Art Center, and numerous other community arts organizations. She is currently the General Manager of the Textile Society of America.
Pronouns: she/her
This program was made possible by support from the Teitelbaum Foundation.
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