DressID

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Logo of the DressID project

DressID. Clothing and Identities - New Perspectives on Textiles in the Roman Empire is one of the EU Commission funded multinational and interdisciplinary project to research of clothing as an identity carrier in the Roman Empire . The project runs from 2007 to 2012.

content

The fact that appearance already served as a direct means of expression of personality and identity in Roman times is proven by ancient written sources, but how it actually affected the cut of the garment or the quality of the fabric is to be researched via DressID. Important information is the selection of certain types and shapes of garments, abundance of fabrics, materials and dyes. They reveal whether a person belonged to the upper class of society, whether they performed representative activities or worked physically. Clothing can thus be seen as a marker for religious, ethnic, gender-specific, job-related and other identities of a person and as an indication of the degree of Romanization of a region and its inhabitants. DressID is dedicated to the analysis and interpretation of clothing on the basis of original textile finds, but also on the basis of image and written sources. The results of the individual investigations are compiled by DressID, whereby local, regional and supra-regional tendencies in the field of clothing in the Roman Empire can be determined.

History and organization

In 2005 and 2006 three symposia on Roman textiles were held in the Reiss-Engelhorn-Museums Mannheim. At these conferences, the textile experts' need for an international and interdisciplinary network and a forum became apparent. Michael Tellenbach applied for the project to the EU Commission under the Culture Framework Program, which was approved on October 1, 2007. Since then, DressID has been managed by the Curt Engelhorn Foundation for the Reiss Engelhorn Museums. The project coordinator is assisted by a project manager and a finance administrator. Furthermore, research institutions and university institutes from six European countries are involved, which act as co-organizers of the research activities in their respective countries. 50% of the total budget is spent by the participating institutions and 50% by the cultural program of the European Union.

The project involves textile scientists , archaeologists , papyrologists , historian , art historians , conservators , zoologists , archaeobotanists , physicists , chemists and other scientists from different nations organized in eleven working groups. In addition to the working group meetings, there are general meetings at regular intervals.

The EU idea is to be promoted through cooperation between research institutions from countries with different research traditions. Communication takes place in English, although working group meetings and publications are also in other languages. The research results are published in specialist journals, conference files and monographs ; a list of publications can be found on the project's homepage.

Project structure and content cooperation

DressID wants to close a research gap in the archaeological textile research carried out by only a few experts and at the same time create new standards in textile research through the Europe-wide cooperation of individually working scientists and institutions. DressID hopes to gain new insights from the cooperation and networking of various research directions.

In order to channel the different research approaches from the humanities and natural sciences, DressID works in eleven working groups that research the self-image of ancient people in the Roman Empire with regard to dress codes. The two methodological and content-related focuses are on

  • Basic research (on the topics of clothing elements, material and technology, fiber quality, color and dating and experimental archeology) and
  • Context research resulting from the written and pictorial legacies.

The working groups deal with the self-portrayal of the individual in the social context of the Roman Empire, the relationship between Rome and the provinces, the portrayal of the specifically dressed person in the context of gender, social status, occupation and age, in cult and in private and public spaces, as well as questions about the trade and production of clothing.

Structure of the working groups:

Basic research Context research
1. Elements of Dress A. Self and Society
2. Material and Technique B. Rome and the Provinces
3. Quality C. Gender and Age
4. Color and Dating D. Dress and Religion
5. Exhibition E. Production and Trade
6. Experimental Archeology

exhibition

The research results are made available to the public in the form of an exhibition. This is to be shown in 2013 in the Reiss-Engelhorn-Museums in Mannheim.

Participating research institutions

In addition to the institution in charge of the project, higher-level research institutions in six other European countries are involved, the so-called co-organizers. These coordinate and manage the activities of other research institutions and scientists at the state level.

Project management

Reiss-Engelhorn-Museums , Mannheim

Co-organizers

Project partner within Germany

The following project partners are connected to the Reiss-Engelhorn-Museums in Germany:

Project coordination

literature

  • C. Alfaro / M. Tellenbach / R. Ferrero (eds.), Textiles y Museología. Aspectos sobre el estudio, Análysis y Exposición de los Textiles antiguos y de los instrumenta textilia. - Clothing and Identities. New Perspectives on Textiles in the Roman Empire (Vestimenta e identidad. Nuevas perspectivas sobre textiles en el Imperio Romano) - DressID, Actas del I Meeting General Valencia-Ontinyent, 3-5 diciembre de 2007, Valencia 2009.

Web links