Conservation Department

Textile conservation

Treasure a textile

Nobleman's ceremonial vest mid 19th century Palembang / south Sumatra / Indonesia, silk, gold thread, sequins, cotton Collection of the National Gallery of Australia Conserved with the assistance of Canberra Region Feltmakers Acquired through gift and purchase from the Collection of Robert J. Holmgren and Anita Spertus, New York, 2000 click to enlarge

The National Gallery of Australia holds one of the finest Asian textile collections in the world. Conserving textiles for display and to stabilise their condition is a time consuming and specialised task.

Some textiles within the collection need little treatment prior to display, while others are fragile and require many hours of specialist care.

It can take up to 1,000 hours by a specialist conservator to restore a textile to its original strength and beauty.

Due to the increasing interest by the public in the Gallery's collection of Asian textiles and the process of conservation, the Gallery is pleased to offer a unique program enabling members of the public to support particular textile treasures and find out more about Asian textiles.

 Treasure a textile brochure
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Treasure a textile powerpoint show (2.74Mb)