Sensing Silhouettes

Garments are meant to be worn and therefore felt. When they are presented behind glass in a museum, our experience is limited only to seeing them. In this collaboration between RISD’s Virtual Textiles Research Group (VTRG) and the RISD Museum’s Costume and Textiles Department, the textures, colors, and histories of South Asian textiles converge. This presentation invites visitors to engage with saris and head coverings from the museum’s collection through garment simulation, sense-based descriptions, and the haptic experience of material examples.

Kate Irvin, curator, Costume and Textiles, RISD Museum

Joy Ko, critic, Textiles and Industrial Design, RISD

with label texts by Yukti V. Agarwal, Brown / RISD Dual Degree 2024.5

Virtual Textiles Research Group (VTRG): Joy Ko; Caroline Silverman, critic, Textiles; Yukti V. Agarwal, Brown / RISD Dual Degree 2024.5, Psychology / Contemplative Studies / Textiles / THAD; Latika Balachander, RISD MFA 2024, Textiles; Dani Epstein, RISD MID 2024; Yutong Li, RISD MFA 2025, Textiles; Sarah Mann, RISD MID 2024; Yue Xu, RISD BFA 2024, Textiles

In collaboration with Catherine Andreozzi, professor, Apparel, RISD, and Sheela Lunkad, founder, DirectCreate

Touchable bandhani made by Studio Medium / Riddhi Jain in collaboration with Alexandra Soiseth, RISD MFA 2023, Textiles

Touchable quilted and embroidered textile made by Caroline Silverman, RISD BFA 2018, Textiles; critic, Textiles

CLO3D: Jim Simon, academic lead, US Design Team, and Lindsay Laffoon, specialist, 3-D design and implementation