Research Visit to the Textile Museum of the Fondazione Antonio Ratti (FAR) in Como, Italy

Research into the materiality and affects of silk, as a part of an AHRC Curiosity award application. The FAR Textile Museum of the Fondazione Antonio Ratti (FAR) holds a near complete collection of the sample books of the Lyonnais manufacturer Chavent Père et Fils,(1860s–1930s), who produced designs for Victorian couturier Charles Frederick Worth and the early 20th Century Italian designer of formal menswear, Guido Ravasi. The Research questions include: How might an understanding of silk textiles, through art practice, reveal and conjure new readings of Queer modes of being and affect? Can Silk fabric be positioned as an agent in gender and class transgression?