RAMM: What do you Collect? Textiles from Around the World

This exhibition closes on the 23rd August 2026.

The what do you collect?  exhibition is an ongoing part of the Finders Keepers? exhibition in Gallery 11.  It consists of one display case that changes regularly to show examples of someone's collection.  Last time I went it was staplers, this time it was textiles from around the world.

The person who owns this collection worked as International Development Consultant and lived and worked in 43 different countries.  Now retired, they are a volunteer at the museum.  

There is no doubt to me that fabrics are incredibly beautiful and offer a window in to a culture.  They reflect so much tradition and heritage.  People used the materials they had at hand to first make the fabric and then in the dyes and tools they used.  Patterns often have cultural meaning.  Even if they just reflect ever changing fashion, they are still worthwhile.  They are made to be attractive.

The items shown as examples from the much larger collection included pieces of fabric as well as fabric items and came from all over the world.  I loved seeing them all and there is so much to be inspired by.

It's an interesting part of this gallery as it looks at the collections the museum has been gifted and how they were obtained.  There is often an uncomfortable ambiguity in the collections as many were gained through colonisation.  This display brings things more up to date though.  The collections featured have no ethical ambiguity.  It is clear that so many of us collect.  

One of the questions asked is what the owner wants to happen to the collection after they die.  Its easy to see why a museum would be interested in this.  They want interesting collection but there is always a danger they become inundated in caring for a mass of items that they don't really want.  These collections have a value, they have an interest, but what next?

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