The Rita Bolland Fellowship for Innovative Curators, Makers or Scholars

Is the diversity of world cultures something that has been capturing you since you were a little child? Are you a current junior or senior scholar, curator, maker or designer? Or a little bit of all? Have you initiated so far projects that explore how ethnographic museums influence the development of a global fashion agenda? Have you ever thought about rethinking fashion and identity within a global context? If yes, we have good knows for you no matter where you are.

The Research Center for Material Culture (RCMC) within the National Museums of World Cultures composed by: Afrika Museum in Berg En Dal, Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam, and Museum Volkenkunde in Leiden are inviting curators, scholars, and markers to apply for the Rita Bolland fellowship for Textile, Dress and Fashion Study. The National Museums of World Cultures is hosting a world-class collection of dresses and textiles which represent a wide diversity of dress practices globally – in styles, patterns, materials and meaning.

The Rita Bolland Fellowship is encouraging innovative approaches aimed to study both the large textile collections and dresses collections of the museums. Your research proposal should emphasis the following aspects:

1. Strengthen the understanding of the current collections of the museums or contributing to the development of new collections.

2. Contribute to the writing of new histories of textiles, dress and fashion based on the global collections of the museums.

3. Conduct research on different techniques and textiles.

4. Stimulate artists to craft new works or develop new techniques and materials by working closely with the collections of the museums.

What are the requirements and the expected output for the Rita Bolland fellowship for Textile, Dress and Fashion Study?

You are requested to contribute to the intellectual life of the Research Center for Material Culture and you will present your work to the research staff of the museum and in some cases to the general public. Your work will go into improving the documentation of the collections so that the collections will be more accessible for a wider public. For more information, you can access the link below: http://materialculture.nl/en/call-for-proposals-rita-bolland-fellowship-for-textile-dress-and-fashion-study

You should send your brief proposal of no more than 1000 words which emphasizes your intended research. Your proposal should identify and state clearly the relationship of your project with the NMVW collection and include a brief description of how will you contribute to the museum’s work and to scholarship on ethnographic museums, dress and fashion.

Submit your proposal accompanied by a short CV of maximum two pages before November 15th to rcmc@wereldculturen.nl.