Maud Brown, 'Wanganui River', 1891. Te Papa PC000832
Applications close Friday 23rd January 2026
The 2026 Symposium will take place between the 8th - 10th May in Whanganui, New Zealand’s only UNESCO City of Design.
‘The awa is always flowing and evolving. It starts from a single mātāpuna (source/wellspring) and gradually builds momentum and shape. It grows and is fed by many tributaries. It moves with intent and purpose, adapting and changing based on the conditions, until it reaches its destination. Much like the awa, design follows a similar journey, over time shaping the environment around it, and nourishing the people.’
Extended Whānau Sons & Co, Whanganui UNESCO City of Design, Best Award, 2025
Call For Papers
This year’s theme, Haerenga/Journeys, is inspired by the history of our host city, Whanganui, which has been shaped and sustained by its famous awa (river) over generations. In 2017, the Whanganui River was recognised as Te Awa Tupua, a legal person, in acknowledgment of the awa as a living and sacred entity.
In 2021, Whanganui was designated as a UNESCO City of Design in recognition of its historic and contemporary contributions to art and creativity, from Māori innovators who worked alongside the awa for more than 800 years, to the city’s visionary architects, industrialists and manufacturers (including many working in clothing and textiles), and current community of makers. Whanganui is a vibrant city in which the layers of its history are palpable.
We are looking for presentations that explore dress and textiles in relation to journeys through place and time, including wellsprings, tributaries and destinations. Presentations can take the form of a paper (20 minutes), panel (3-4 people) or lightning talk (10 minutes). Themes could include, but are not limited to the following:
Place-based dress and textiles
Tūrangawaewae / a sense of place
Whakapapa
Local / global
Time
Currents
Journeymen
Travel
Forces – natural, social and / or cultural – that shape dress and textile histories
Trade / trade routes
Ka mua, ka muri / walking backwards into the future
Traces / palimpsests / layers
Design journeys
Well-being
Please submit your abstract as a Word document of up to 300 words, with a short biography and your contact details and saved as surname_firstname.docx by Friday 23rd January 2026 and email to president@costumeandtextile.nz
Abstracts will be peer reviewed, and authors will be advised of acceptance or not by Friday 13th February. Applicants are encouraged to consider publishing their papers in Context, CTANZ’s journal