PROGRAMME OF FORTHCOMING EVENTS

Live talks take place at the University Women's Club in Mayfair. We stream some talks, usually from overseas speakers, via Zoom. Whenever possible, talks are recorded and made available to members via the Members' Area of the website.

We also organise trips and tours for members and their guests. These are advertised in the monthly newsletters.

Our next event

Sunday, July 13th, 2025

ORTS summer party and auction.

The Oriental Rug & Textile Society’s end of term annual event is always a wonderfully friendly and relaxed way to meet fellow enthusiasts. This year’s event will be hosted at Broad Oak, near Rye, in East Sussex.

Lunch will be followed by a sale/auction of items brought by members. Funds raised will go towards supporting the activities of the Society.

Members and their guests welcome. Please contact Dimity Spiller for information about how to get there and what to bring.

More dates for your diary

Thursday, 7th August 2025

Behind-the-scenes visit for ORTS members to Birmingham Museums Collection Centre to see items once owned by William Morris and bequeathed to the Museum by his daughter, May Morris.

Please contact Dimity Spiller to enquire.

Wednesday, 24th September 2025

Lecture by Anna-Louise Meynell on 'The ethnic tapestry of Northeast India'

Via Zoom. 1800.

Guests welcome, Please contact Dimity Spiller to enquire.

Society talks are normally held at the University Women's Club

in South Audley Square just behind the Dorchester Hotel. Talks start at 7pm.

Both Green Park and Hyde Park Corner tube stations are a short walk away. Free street parking

after 6.30pm (Tilney St, Stanhope Gate, Hill St, Waverton St, Curzon St, Chesterfield Gardens)

Guests are welcome to attend for £7 a single lecture. Students £5.

Membership of one year for all events from £30.

EVENTS IN DETAIL

Asian Textiles for the Portuguese Market: trade and taste (16th-18th centuries)

20th NOVEMBER 2019 at 7pm A talk by Dr Maria João Ferreira on the textile trade between Asia and Portugal in the early modern period.

ORTS

Malay Gold Thread Embroidery

16th OCTOBER 2019 at 7pm A talk by Dr Fiona Kerlogue Recently retired from her post Deputy Keeper of Anthropology at the Horniman Museum

ORTS

Chasing Tensions: A lifelong pursuit of an understanding of stitch and textile

18th SEPTEMBER 2019 7pm A talk by Professor Anne Morrell, Consultant at the Calico Museum of Textiles, Sarabhai Foundation, Ahmedabad India

ORTS

Summer Party 2019

7th JULY 2019 from midday to 5pm Members are encouraged to bring items and books for auction and sale held on the premises for the benefit

ORTS

Film Screening, ‘Grass’ (1925)

27th JUNE 2019 1 - 3pm The 1925 film GRASS about the migration of the Bakhtiari tribes This classic silent film was made in 1925

ORTS

Textile Tour of Kyrgyzstan

06 - 18 JUNE 2019 Our exciting trip this summer sees us visit many of the artisans who have featured in the research of Dr Stephanie Bunn...

ORTS

AGM - Show & Tell

9th MAY 2019 at 6.30pm Venue: ORTS Committee member Geoffrey Saba’s house in Peckham, SE15, close to train station and buses, with...

ORTS

Colours of Gujarat: An exhibition of weaving, dyeing, spinning and embroidery

7th APRIL - 4th MAY 2019 Organised by members of ORTS Trip to Gujarat and Ticia Lever

ORTS

Cypriot textiles - techniques, materials, patterns, uses and the importance of dowry textiles

20th MARCH 2019 at 7pm Mary Spyrou will discuss a folk art tradition which experienced a decline from around the middle of the 20th...

ORTS

South Persian Rugs, Bags and Saddle Covers

20th FEBRUARY 2019 at 7pm Professor Paul R. Benjamin Collection The ethnic diversity and inter-mingling of nomadic tribal and village...

ORTS

‘Chinese silk textiles from the Warring States (405 BC - 221 BC) to the Tang dynasty, (618 - 906).'

23rd JANUARY 2019 at 7pm A talk by Jacqueline Simcox Jacqueline Simcox is a private textile dealer based in London and will discuss...

ORTS