In the European Textile Forum 2026, we will do... knots.
Our motto will be "Knots that hide, knots that show, knots that stay, knots that go". This is a broad focus topic that ranges from knots used to hold together textile tools, or even forming a textile tool such as string heddles, to temporary knots such as ties for tie-dyeing, to knots that form the textile itself as in nalbinding, makramee, or the various forms of netting.
Whether temporary or permanent, part of the tool or part of the textile, knots form an indispensable part of textile crafting. They can be absolutely fixed or they can be adjustable to tweak tension, they can be hard or easy to open, they can stay the same under tension or go tighter, they can be used to connect short ends or they can be used to take up slack and shorten a long piece of string. We are welcoming all of the research and all of the craft skill and knowledge for all of them at the Textile Forum 2026 in Mayen, running from November 2 to November 8, 2026.
The European Textile Forum aims to explore archaeological and historical textiles in both theory and practice. For this, we combine paper presentations and workshops or practical sessions on the paper's topic. These practical parts are either led by the presenter, for instance to teach a reconstructed method or technique and have the rest of the participants try it, or they can take more of a "community brainstorming" form, if the method is not yet known. With this combination, we also want to connect practical specialists and theoretical specialists.
We'd like to invite you to do a presentation or workshop, or both, to explore the different procedures, tools, and materials related to knots in textiles or textile tools. Presentations can be between 15 and 45 minutes, with workshop time or time for practical exploration afterwards as necessary. If you have a proposal for a presentation, workshop, experiment, or other project that does not fit into the focus topic, please don't hesitate to contact us about it - there's always some room for "extras" at the Forum.
You can submit your paper, presentation, or workshop title and abstract with your registration. The CfP will remain open until September 1, but for ease of planning and to be sure to have a place, please submit your proposal as early as convenient for you.
The conference runs one full week, from Monday for arriving and setting up things if necessary, to Sunday as the departure day. Pandemic-related rules of the LEIZA, if applicable, will apply for the conference venue. The conference fee is 455 € and covers food, coffee, tea, water, and limited basic accommodation on site. The number of participants is limited to a maximum of 18. If there are more registrations than places, precedence will be given to persons offering a contribution to the programme. There is one bursary for a participant available, with more information available here.
For more information regarding the place, accommodation, registration and cancellation info, please refer to our Participant Information pages.