Thank you Devon for your very thorough email. I really appreciate all the advice.
We are also going to the World Expo in Milan and the Biennale in Venice so there will be lots to see! Thanks for the tip about Burano. So much planning to do! Meghann On Fri, Apr 10, 2015 at 7:32 AM, <[email protected]> wrote: > Dear Meghann, > > I am wondering if you realize that there is a lace musuem in Sunnyvale, CA > http://www.thelacemuseum.org/ and another lace museum in Berkeley, CA. > http://www.lacismuseum.org/ > I always think that it is a little unfair that there are only two lace > museums in the US and that they so near to each other. But, our loss is > California's gain. > Since I don't see your name in the directory, I don't imagine that you are > a member of the International Organization of Lace, the major lace group in > the US, but we publish a Bulletin four times a year. In my capacity as the > Lace Study Editor I like to visit lace exhibits and write about them. I > also like to visit lace sites and museums with lace in them, > internationally, often resulting in articles for the Bulletin. (My most > recent article recounts my experiences visiting lace sites in Alencon and > Argentan, France last summer.) I live in New Jersey, and I volunteer in the > lace collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. > As you can see, I am presently making inquiries, myself, about a trip to > the lace making region of Devon, England and Ireland. The list is very > helpful as one tries to negotiate the ever changing situation in visiting > lace. Lace seems to be the first thing a museum packs up and the last thing > they unpack whenever they move or renovate. > If you would like any more information about lace tourism, I would be > happy to assist. > I was in Venice for the Biennale some years ago and it was really > fantastic. Be aware, though that a trip to Burano is a whole day > experience. You will need to work it out in advance so that you get on the > right boat, etc. You might ask about it at the hotel. The museum there has > been recently redone, and is nicer than it has ever been. There is also a > "museum" of sorts over a lace store called Lydia in Burano. > In Brussels, I have better luck with the Museum of Costume and Lace > http://www.brusselsmuseums.be/en/musee.php?id=76&recherche=OK than with > the Cinquantenaire, also known as the Royal Museum of Art and History. I > note that the Lace rooms are still on the closed gallery list as they have > been for most of my lifetime, although their collection is very important. > http://www.kmkg-mrah.be/closed-galleries > This is a situation that also prevailed at the V&A where they would close > the lace gallery constantly because it was at the end of a hallway and easy > to block off whenever they were short of staff, which was always. Now the > lace is all in the Cloth Merchants House, study center, which is on the > outskirts of London from what I hear, and does not have any "exhibit". One > must make an appointment and designate the items one wants to see. This > tends to be a much more time consuming enterprise and one that is more > likely to attract scholars than casual viewers. > I am not at all sure that going to the Lace Guild in Stourbridge, East > Midlands, is a good use of time in England. According to my google maps, it > is over 2 hours from London by car, and I think it is quite modest when you > get there. I would imagine the Luton Museum and the Cecil Higgins Museum in > Bedford would be more worth the journey. Cecil Higgins has some > fantastic pieces of Thomas Lester Lace which was a mid-19th century bobbin > lace often depicting exotic animals from the London zoo. But, if you are > not a frequent traveler to London, I don't know whether the things you have > to give up when you spend time going into the hinterlands is actually worth > it. I guess it depends on your level of interest. Last time I was in > London, which was only a few years ago, there was a surprising amount of > lace content at the exhibit at the Globe theatre. In their endless quest > for verisimilitude they have had people recreating Elizabethan bobbin lace. > A woman named Jenny Tirimani has been making a bit of a career on this, > including interesting scholarship based on excavations at the Rose Theatre. > Of course, I am not sure what era of lace you are really interested in. > Here is a link to a lace/textile tour of Italy that might give you some > ideas. > http://www.textilesupport.net/courses/events/lace-in-italy7-18-september-2015/ > When > Angharad Rixon, the organizer last posted on this, she said there was only > one place left. Of course, if you wanted to recreate any part of this on > your own, you would have to be very careful and contact the places > yourself. Part of these tours is that the guide makes advance arrangements > which often involves a special viewing of things in storage. So it would be > quite possible for you to go to some of these museums and find no lace on > display. > > Lace tourism is very tricky! > > Devon Thein > > > In a message dated 4/9/2015 12:00:46 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, > [email protected] writes: > > Wow - I just checked my email and yes I just want to write quickly with > a huge thank you to all who have made suggestions! I am like Barbara - > here in hot dry Southern California - Los Angeles to be exact. Barbara > where are you? > > I am reading through your emails and taking notes as well - my mom and I > are already trying to figure out how to visit the Lace Guild. > > We are in the planning stages still and want to accommodate as many of > these suggestions as we can. I know for sure we will be in London for > several days, Brussels for several days, Milan for the World Expo, Venice > for the Biennale and in Croatia for four days or so. I know it's all short > - but coming from the west coast of the US we want to see a little bit of > everything. I wish it could be a three month trip. We are planning for > about three weeks. ;) > > And, indeed, what a wonderful community this is - thank you! > > On Wed, Apr 8, 2015 at 4:07 PM, <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Dear Barbara and Meghann, >> Of course no discussion of lace tourism in England should omit mention >> of the book Lace Villages by Liz Bartlett, which was the basis of a tour I >> took some years ago. >> Devon >> >> >> Just want to thank you all for the fascinating discussion of lace museums. >> I have had the joy of visiting a number of these places and am looking >> forward to trip late spring to England so I have been furiously taking >> notes. What a wonderful community this is! >> >> > - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
