Meet the exhibition curator behind Textiles: The Art of Mankind and accompanying display Connecting Threads by Lynn Setterington at this fascinating panel discussion.
Curated by textile historian Mary Schoeser, Textiles: The Art of Mankind celebrates the ancient and deep entanglement between textiles, people and our world. Through the beauty of textiles, you will encounter human ingenuity that can be traced from pre-history to our digital age.
Discover how Mary collaborated with the Jo Ann C. Stabb Design Collection, a significant teaching and research resource housed at the Department of Design at University of California, Davis, to bring together the stunning and fascinating pieces on display that example this human ingenuity. Also on the panel is renowned textile artist Lynn Setterington whose collaborative projects have brought together communities, built bridges and tackled mental health issues.
Textiles the Art of Mankind and Connecting Threads are at the Fashion and Textile Museum until Sunday 7 September 2025.
You can also shop a selection of books, by Mary Schoeser and Lynn Setterington through our online shop!
About the curators
Mary Schoeser MA FRSA has authored some 280 publications large and small. Books related to the Fashion and Textile Museum exhibition include World Textiles: A concise history (Thames & Hudson: 2003/2023), Silk (Yale University Press, 2007) and Textiles: The art of mankind (T&H, 2012/2013).
Formerly Archivist for Warner & Sons, since 1991 she has been consultant archivist to firms such as Liberty of London, as well as advising museums in Britain and America, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Over 40 curatorial projects range from the contribution to Chintz: Cotton in Bloom at the Fashion and Textile Museum, London (2021) and the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s Off the Wall: American Art to Wear (2019).
She lectures widely, since 2018 at Textilmuseum St Gallen, National Museums Scotland, University of Lisbon, Textile Center Haslach (Austria), Winterthur Museum (Delaware USA) and the Wellcome Institute, London. She is Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the V&A and also Patron of the Bernat Klein Foundation and School of Textiles, Coggeshall.
This exhibition brings to London a range of ethnographic garments and textiles from the Jo Ann C. Stabb Collection at the University of California Davis, where Mary was taught by Jo Ann during her first degree (a BSc in Design) and developed her interest in global and interdisciplinary studies.
The Jo Ann C. Stabb Design Collection is a special resource that supports and enhances the teaching and research goals of the Department of Design at University of California, Davis. Managed by Adele Zhang, also a former student of Jo Ann’s, the collection consists of over 5,000 items ranging from the 16th Century to present day with the focus on ethnic and endangered textiles and costumes from around the world.
Lynn Setterington is an internationally recognised artist working in the textiles arena. Born in Yorkshire, she trained at York College of Arts & Technology and Goldsmith’s College London and has been a Senior Lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University in the School of Art since 1992. Her work explores contemporary issues in society and how stitch can be used to commemorate people and communities. Lynn’s quilts and cloths are held in many major public museums including the V&A, Crafts Council, IQSC and Whitworth Art Gallery.
Lynn is the author of Connecting Threads, a beautiful book, bringing together twelve textile projects completed between 1981 and 2024.
Dennis Nothdruft is Head of Exhibitions at the Fashion and Textile Museum. He has led the exhibitions team at the Museum since it was founded by Zandra Rhodes in 2003 and previously spent many years working as a design assistant in Zandra Rhodes studios in both San Diego and London. He has lectured widely on many aspects of fashion and textiles and has authored several books including Zandra Rhodes 50 Fabulous Years in Fashion, How to Draw like a Fashion Designer, How to Draw Vintage Fashion and Kaffe Fassett the Artist’s Eye.
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