Florida Tech Presents Annual Textiles Program: Uncommon Threads

MELBOURNE, FLA. — Florida Institute of Technology will explore the exotic “Textiles of Southeast Asia” in Uncommon Threads, the university’s annual textile
lecture series. A free evening Humanities Series lecture is on Feb. 1 at 7 p.m.; a luncheon symposium takes place on Feb. 2. Highlighting both events is
Dr. Mattiebelle Gittinger, research associate for Southeast Asian textiles at The Textile Museum in Washington, D.C.
The Feb. 1 lecture, “Cloth that Speaks: The Intricate Roles of Indonesian Textiles,” will be in the Evans Library Pavilion, P133. Gittinger will lecture on
the special roles
that handcrafted textiles play in the religious and secular lives of Indonesian people.
The Feb. 2 event, which costs $50, starts with a 10:30 a.m. lecture in the Hartley Room of the Denius Student Center. A luncheon symposium follows at 11:30
a.m. in the same room. Those attending will experience a special exhibit of Southeast Asian textiles and traditional costumes, folk art and a cultural
performance. Objects on display will include examples from Florida Tech’s Ruth Funk Collection of Textiles as well as several items from local collectors
and dealers.
The “Uncommon Threads” special event is part of Florida Tech’s Textile Art and Industry program. The program began in 2004 with help from Ruth Funk,
artist, lifelong art educator and local patron of the arts. She donated her textile collection to the university along with a financial gift for planning a
textiles program. Most recently, she also has donated $1.25 million for the construction of a textiles museum on campus.
For more information or tickets for Feb. 2, call Carla Funk at (321) 674-6129 or Irene Romero at (321) 674-6152. For information on the spring 2007 course,
“Native North American Textiles,” call (321) 674-8082.