248 Susanne Le ad | P ojec o His o ical Tex iles
| and Te ms o Cos ume – Tex ilne .dk
P ojec o His o ical Tex iles
and Te ms o Cos ume – Tex ilne .dk
SUSANNE LERVAD
Danish Na ional Cen e o Tex ile Resea ch, Te mplus
In Denma k o e he ecen yea s we ha e been wo king on a la ge
digi iza ion p ojec o his o ical ex iles and e ms o cos umes. The
p ojec is called ex ilne .dk and akes place p ima ily in Den Gamle
By (Open Ai Museum) in Å hus and he Cen e o Tex ile Resea ch in
close co-ope a ion wi h a wo king g oup o esea che s om he en i e
coun y. Mos o hem a e membe s o he academic ne wo k he Cos ume
Ne wo k (www.d ag .dk) and some o he membe s a e wo king a he
Danish Na ional Resea ch Founda ion’s Cen e o Tex ile Resea ch (CTR)
a he Uni e si y o Copenhagen. This esea ch cen e wo ks wi h
in e disciplina y analyses o he many unique Danish ex ile collec ions –
especially wea ing om he B onze Age o he p esen day compa ed o
ex ile inds om he Medi e anean – in pa icula epig aphic and
iconog aphic ma e ials. In he Medi e anean we a ely ind emaining
ex ile objec s – excep om a ew a eas in Egyp .
In he ex ilne .dk p ojec we a e wo king wi h collec ions om 1600
and onwa ds a Danish museums o cul u e and design, especially he
wo k o wo ex ile cu a o s – E na Lo enzen and Ellen Ande sen. We
planned he wo k wi h classi ica ions and me hods o egis a ion.This
i s classi ica ion model and o ganiza ion o he ield assu ed a concep ual
way o digi izing he collec ions o he di e en museums.
The ex ile e minology wo k in Denma k is e y in ense and CTR is
hos ing wo kshops and con e ences on e minology, o ins ance in co-
ope a ion wi h he TOTh Ne wo k o Te minology and On ology in
F ance on he opic o he e bal and non- e bal ep esen a ion o ex ile
e ms (p oceedings o hcoming) and wo con e ences on diach onic
e minology wo k om he B onze age o he i s millennium AC.
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The i s book o p oceedings Tex ile e minologies in he Ancien Nea
Eas and Medi e anean om he Thi d o he Fi s Millennia BC (by Cécile
Michel and Ma ie-Louise Nosch (eds.), Oxbow Books, Ox o d, 2010,
ISBN 978-1-84217-975-8) is he bes selle o ou cen e and sold ou as
ha dback book – and now only a ailable as a pape back. I is an o e whelming
success o a di icul book on a complex opic.
Ma ie-Louise Nosch, Di ec o o he Cen e o Tex ile Resea ch, and
I ha e oge he o his ne wo k se ies TOTh p oceedings 2011 w i en
abou Ve bal and non- e bal con igu a ions o ex iles – a diach onic s udy.
O he ac i i ies on e minology a e mas e classes o applican s o EU
Ma ie Cu ie Fellowships, and we ha e a ine success a e on he applica ions.
A he momen he cen e has nine ou s anding in e na ional Ma ie Cu ie
ellows and many o hem a e wo king wi h e minology.
These schola s a e o ins ance Ma eo Vigo, Miguel Angel And és-
Toledo, and Sal a o e Gaspa and hey ha e all published a icles on he
opic in CTR’s nume ous publica ions – pa icula ly in he bes selle Tex ile
Te minologies om 2010.
Ma eo Vigo has w i en in he bes selle abou he e minology o linen
Linen in Hi i e In en o y Tex s and Miguel Angel And és-Toldeo has
w i en he con ibu ion Some conside a ions abou Vedic, A es an and Indo-
I anian Tex ile Te minology and inally Sal a o e Gaspa has ecen ly w i en
abou The language o ex iles: ex iles in (non) e bal communica ion in
Ancien Mesopo amia.
O e he nex yea s he CTR will be wo king on mo e angles o
e minology.
You can ead mo e abou he con e ence a c .hum.ku.dk unde
“Con e ences”. And a sequel o Tex ile Te minologiesin he Ancien Nea
Eas and Medi e anean om he 1s o he 1s millennia B.C. is scheduled
o elease in 2015.
Bu back o ex ilne .dk.In he i s place a wo king g oup om he
Cos ume Ne wo k unde he Agency o Cul u e, spen some ime on
designing he s uc u e o he wo k and collec ing he a ious ways o
egis a ion om bo h design and cul u e museums in Denma k (e.g. Den
Gamle By (Open Ai Museum), Design Museum Denma k and The
Na ional Museum o Denma k). This p ojec esul ed in a classi ica ion,
which o med he basis o wo king wi h mo e e m bases in he ool
“Te mplus Manage ”.
250 Susanne Le ad | P ojec o His o ical Tex iles
| and Te ms o Cos ume – Tex ilne .dk
Ca ego ies:
- ma e ials,
- ex iles,
- p oduc ion echniques,
- cos umes and hei di e en pa s,
- concep s o deco a ions and he deco a ion echniques,
- concep s o dyes and dye echniques and
- s yle.
This wo k is documen ed in he No d e m p oceedings om 2009
published on he websi e FORVIR - blogs.cbs.dk/ o i –a knowledge
o um o modelling in he public sec o .
Since 2004 he wo king g oup o ex ilne .dk has been wo king owa ds
he goal now ealized on he basis o gene ous unding and a 1,1 DKK
million g an om he Danish Agency o Cul u e. Two employees om
Den Gamle By (Open Ai Museum) a e e iewing wo ds and de ini ions
om collec ion indexes o well-known ex ile esea che s. I is all se up
in a o ma c ea ed by he wo king g oup.
We no e he language o each e m, o mula e a sho de ini ion and
p o ide a ho ough explana ion as well as meaning ul quo es. In addi ion
o his we also men ion he pe iodas e ms change meaning o e ime.
Fo each concep and he e m o look up, he e is a sec ion on sou ces.
The da abase uses MediaWiki, which is widely used and he e o e known
by u u e use s - and almos mos impo an ly in his con ex - will be
upda ed.
HOLBERG, DIARIES, OLD LETTERS AND OTHER TExTS:
Bu why should we digi ize ex ile e ms? Isn’ i comple ely i ele an
wha Holbe g belie ed in his ex s om he 1700’s, o example, in an
epis le o “ha nieskensskiø e ”? Wi h hese wo ds om he p ojec To e
Ma hiassen om Den Gamle By (Open Ai Museum):
“Does his mean ha women in he mid 1700’s was d essed in a kind o
a mou ? You see Amazons wi h shield and swo d in his mind’s eye. Bu no,
i ’s no wha Holbe g’s i onic commen abou he ho es ashion is all abou .
I ’s abou unde wea . Abou he kind o unde wea ha ans o ms he body,
so you canno see a woman’s legs. In he mid-1700s i was mode n wi h wide
pe icoa s s i ened wi h o al ings, o example, he lexible ma e ial: baleen.
Ski s o med a kind o en on he lowe body, and he majes ic silk ab ics
in he d esses we e li ed and shaped by he pe icoa .
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Te minologija | 2014 | 21
Wo king wi h ex ilne .dk oo ed in he belie ha wo ds a e a he i age ha
mus be p ese ed o pos e i y, so ha u u e gene a ions can also be amused
by Holbe g’s sense o humou o unde s and ancien ex s abou hei own
amily and e e y hing else conce ning his o ical cos ume and ex ile e ms.”
And u he mo e she adds:
“…pa o my daily wo k as a cu a o is o answe ques ions. I o en ge
ques ions abou he signi icance o a ious ex ile and cos ume e ms om
genealogis s, w i e s and o he museum p o essionals, li e a y his o ians and all
po en ially in e es ed. Digi iza ion is cu en ly a e y e ec i e way o sha e
knowledge wi h many people and no jus hose who ask di ec ly. Digi iza ion
can open o he inclusion o knowledge”.
VARIATION
Headwo ds in ex ilne .dk a e lined up wi h hei di e en a ia ions. The e
may be many spellings o he same e m o e ms o he same ab ic.
An example o en ies in he e m base is ‘ abby o plain wea e’ (in
Danish:læ ed). This e e ence will ha e wo en ies, as he e a e wo
di e en concep s - ela ing o he binding and o he p oduc .
The e will also be a diag am o o he image o ep esen he concep
non- e bally, and o show how adesign is made in such a way as o a oid
con usion ac oss language bounda ies.
The mos challenging pa o ou wo k has been o include all a ia ions
o ma e ial.
Se e al o he concep s a e associa ed wi h 8-10 a ian s and i has been
di icul o con ol such a ie y, bu his is he esul o he ex ensi e
ade and exchange o ex iles (ex. Biele elde læ ed, A aslæ ed,
K e elde læ ed e c.).
Ano he example o a ia ion is he ibe Abaka, wi h he ollowing
a ia ions in ex ilne .dk:
Abaka, abaca, abacca, abaca mendohamp, siamhamp and banan æ le .
O he examples o a ia ion ake in o accoun he his o ical de elopmen
as ‘gi a usse ’ ha became ‘gamache ’ (e.g.‘gai e ’) and ‘leggings’. He e
a e h ee di e en e ms ha co e oughly he same concep bu a
di e en pe iods o ime. I has been di icul o iden i y he sou ce ma e ial
and e e ence books, bu now we ha e p o ided sou ces and a de ailed
e e ence a he end o each en y.
252 Susanne Le ad | P ojec o His o ical Tex iles
| and Te ms o Cos ume – Tex ilne .dk
Cu en ly we ha e only a demo/p o o ype o he e mwiki, bu hope
o unding o make a pe manen and ull scale e mwiki soon.
PICTURES AND WORDS ARE LINKED
Imagesand o he non- e bal means o communica ion help us o
unde s and hings be e and ex ilne .dk wo ks wi h double digi iza ion,
o example by scanning he slides o ex ile samples eco ded in Danish
a chi es and museums by MA (Mas e o A ) Ingebo g Cock Clausen in
he 1980’s.
Some o he pic u es we e published he in he book Tex ile Samples
om Danish A chi es and Museums, 1750-1975, published a “Bo gen” in
1987, bu many o he pic u es ha e no been published be o e.
In ex ilne .dk many di e en ex ile e ms a e collec ed. By now we
al eady ha e con ac wi h esea che s om many coun ies such as England,
F ance, India and No way. The wo king g oup o ex ilne .dk also co-
ope a es wi h he Danish Language Council and Cen e o Language
Technology, Uni e si y o Copenhagen and hei DanNe p ojec , a
esea ch- and de elopmen p ojec conce ned wi h he de elopmen o a
Danish lexical seman ic wo d ne and a ine isual p esen a ion pla o m
(cs .hum.ku.dk).
MORE INFORMATION:
The digi izing p ocess is based on he ma e ial o he wo well-known
and e y impo an Danish ex ile esea che s:
• E na Lo enzen whose handw i en iles we scan in he ex ilne .dk
was a cu a o o Den Gamle By (Open Ai Museum) om 1959-
1979 and she had DPhil. on he hesis People’s Clo hing in and
a ound Aa hus in 1975. I can be pu chased in he shop in Den
Gamle By (Open Ai Museum).Read abou E na Lo enzen: k in .
DK./side/1597/BIO/336/o igin/70.
• Ellen Ande sen who was a cu a o a he Na ional Museum o
Denma k and published se e al olumes in he se ies Danish
Cos umes. The Fashion in Denma k. Read abou Ellen Ande sen:
www/KVINFO/page/597/bio/336/o igin/170.
Link o he Cos ume ne wo k’s websi e:
www.d ag puljen.dk
h p://c .hum.ku.dk

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ead mo e abou ex iLne .dk:
h p://www.d ag .dk/o dda abase
h p://c .hum.ku.dk/o he p ojec s/danishcos umeg oup/
h p://www.k is elig -dagblad.dk/a ikel/422666%3aDanma k–H ad-be yde -aal-i-s oempe ne
h p://www.d ag .dk/asse s/PDF- ile /SyddanskUni e si e 20no 2008PUB.pd
No d e m P oceedings 2009, Copenhagen: Es ablishing a e m base o cos ume and ex ile concep s by Susan-
ne Le ad (www. o i .dk)
Du y P., Le ad S., Nosch M.L. Ve bal and non- e bal con igu a ions o ex iles – a diach onic s udy in TOTh
p oceedings 2011, Annecy.
Gau a 2014-07-05
Susanne Le ad
Danish Na ional Cen e o Tex ile Resea ch,
Te mplus
F uebje g ej 3, 2100 Copenhagen, Denma k
E-mail: sl@ e mplus.dk