Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ReMTW (Re-making the World: Women, Humanitarian Agencies and Handicrafts Programmes)
Reporting period: 2021-10-01 to 2023-09-30
Lacemaking is an important part of Belgium’s cultural heritage. The First World War threatened to extinguish the renowned Belgian lace industry, cut off from both markets and raw materials. Thousands of lacemakers would be left without an income. Humanitarian organisations stepped in, saved the country’s cultural heritage, and supported its workers by supplying materials and selling the finished fabrics. Their actions gave unprecedented publicity to the industry and American philanthropy, and employing more than 50.000 women in German-occupied Belgium and among Belgian refugees in Holland, France and the UK.
The produced lace became known as ‘war lace’, as its unique iconography sometimes referred directly to the conflict. Historians have tended to study food and medical aid programmes. My project fills this gap. Through the example of war lace, I uncover the overlooked origins for the preservation of cultural heritage by humanitarian organisations. In particular, I will test the relationships between humanitarian labour, female agency, and artistic expression. Through a combination of archival, collection and practice-led inquiry, the project will lead to an innovative, transnational, social and material history of war lace.
Today the preservation of cultural heritage by humanitarian organisations forms a significant part of relief activities across the globe. That is why the results of this historical research will be useful to humanitarian organisations understanding the long history of craft-based programmes, its best practices and its possible pitfalls.
The project had three main objectives: first, to undertake new and transnational research in archives and museums to establish a documentary and material basis for the political, economic, social and cultural currents informing war lace programmes. Second, to re-examine historiographies of war lace in light of current research on the history of humanitarianism, American philanthropy, cultural nationalism and gender history. And third, to conduct a programme of practice-based investigation involving textile theory and practice, particularly lacemaking as a humanitarian textile.
Through the combination of archival, collection and practice-led inquiry, I uncovered how the origins for the preservation of cultural heritage by humanitarian organisations were steeped in historical practices and nostalgia for the pre-industrial, artisan ‘way of life’ in contemporary humanitarian reform. The programmes often contained traditional characteristics, as the fate of working-class women was put into the hands of the female philanthropists of the upper- and middle-classes. The latter developed lace-aid programmes that were reminiscent of the long tradition of craft-based philanthropy. As such, they nuance the assumption made by recent histories of humanitarianism that the First World War was a turning point in the development of modern humanitarianism.
The produced lace became known as ‘war lace’, as its unique iconography sometimes referred directly to the conflict. Historians have tended to study food and medical aid programmes. My project fills this gap. Through the example of war lace, I uncover the overlooked origins for the preservation of cultural heritage by humanitarian organisations. In particular, I will test the relationships between humanitarian labour, female agency, and artistic expression. Through a combination of archival, collection and practice-led inquiry, the project will lead to an innovative, transnational, social and material history of war lace.
Today the preservation of cultural heritage by humanitarian organisations forms a significant part of relief activities across the globe. That is why the results of this historical research will be useful to humanitarian organisations understanding the long history of craft-based programmes, its best practices and its possible pitfalls.
The project had three main objectives: first, to undertake new and transnational research in archives and museums to establish a documentary and material basis for the political, economic, social and cultural currents informing war lace programmes. Second, to re-examine historiographies of war lace in light of current research on the history of humanitarianism, American philanthropy, cultural nationalism and gender history. And third, to conduct a programme of practice-based investigation involving textile theory and practice, particularly lacemaking as a humanitarian textile.
Through the combination of archival, collection and practice-led inquiry, I uncovered how the origins for the preservation of cultural heritage by humanitarian organisations were steeped in historical practices and nostalgia for the pre-industrial, artisan ‘way of life’ in contemporary humanitarian reform. The programmes often contained traditional characteristics, as the fate of working-class women was put into the hands of the female philanthropists of the upper- and middle-classes. The latter developed lace-aid programmes that were reminiscent of the long tradition of craft-based philanthropy. As such, they nuance the assumption made by recent histories of humanitarianism that the First World War was a turning point in the development of modern humanitarianism.
1 to undertake new and transnational research in archives and museums to establish a documentary and material basis for the political, economic, social and cultural currents informing war lace programmes.
Bringing together sources in archives and museum collections in Belgium, the Netherlands and the U.S. I have documented lacemaking, selling and consuming as a female occupation in the First World War. I have established the relationships between the lacemakers, designers, local organisers often of aristocratic or bourgeois background, and their consumers. This was the first time the wide international ties were researched from the import of the materials needed for lacemaking into German-occupied Belgium to the distribution and selling of Belgian war lace to (potential) consumers in the US and Allied countries. What emerged was a more complex and multi-perspective history with an emphasis on the reciprocal set of relationships between working-class women, Belgian elites, American relief organizations, and Anglo-American consumers, rather than a narrative of an external charitable endeavour.
2 to re-examine historiographies of war lace in light of current research on the history of humanitarianism, American philanthropy, cultural nationalism and gender history.
I developed new historiographical coordinates to bring together recent research in the history of humanitarianism in the First World War, particularly American philanthropy in Belgium and during the blockade of Europe as a form of civic diplomacy, together with scholarship on early-twentieth century cultural nationalism, particularly the participation of women as cultural entrepreneurs and the role of gender in revivals of craft tradition. The results helped nuance the assumption made by recent histories of humanitarianism that the First World War was a turning point in the development of modern humanitarianism.
3 to conduct a programme of practice-based investigation involving textile theory and practice, particularly lacemaking as a humanitarian textile.
Looking at the making (processes) of the things themselves allows for insights into the temporality of materials and its affordance for the social embedding of craft techniques. Through attentiveness to the making of the humanitarian textile, I have supplemented existing analysis of textual representation and aesthetics. I have thus gained new insights into the production of tactile and sensory knowledge, and into the social and cultural value of the handmade object. These insights helped to better understand my findings in the archives and museum collections, propelling my analyses.
Dissemination to academic and professional communities
(1) Peer-reviewed articles
- [in press, 2023] with Ria Cooreman. ‘Vrouwelijke designers in de Belgische kantindustrie, ca. 1890-1920.’ Tijdschrift voor Interieurgeschiedenis en Design.
- 2022 ‘Recuperation, Revival and Survival. A Humanitarian Lace-Aid Programme in Occupied Belgium during the First World War.’ Journal Belgian History, 52 (4): 8-28.
- 2021 with Elena Vanden Abeele. ‘Het Vlaamse kantonderwijs in de 20e eeuw: tussen modernisatie en traditie.’ Volkskunde 122 (3): 381-401.
Submitted and are currently under peer-review:
- ‘The Mobilization of Belgian Lace for Wartime Agendas in the First World War.’ In Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of World Textile, ed. by Janis Jefferies and Vivienne Richmond.
- ‘Beyond Gratitude. Belgian Women, Humanitarian Organisations and Lace-Aid Programmes in the First World War.’ In Humanitarian Handicraft: Textiles, Materiality and Trade, ed. by Rebecca Gill, Claire Barber, Helen Dampier et al. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Dissemination to different target audiences.
(1) A book and an article destined for the wider audiences
- 2022 War Lace. Women, Food Aid and Patriotism During the First World War (1914-1918). Phoebus Focus 29. Veurne: Hannibal Books.
- 2022 War lace. Vrouwen, voedselhulp en vaderlandsliefde in de Eerste Wereldoorlog (1914-1918). Phoebus Focus 29. Veurne: Hannibal Books.
- 2021 ‘War Lace. Saving the Belgian Lace Industry in the First World War.’ The Journal of the Australian Lace Guild 42 (3): 8-11.
(2) Blog text
- 2022 ‘P.LACE.S – Looking Through Flemish Lace: Book Review.’ Lace in Context, 7 January
Bringing together sources in archives and museum collections in Belgium, the Netherlands and the U.S. I have documented lacemaking, selling and consuming as a female occupation in the First World War. I have established the relationships between the lacemakers, designers, local organisers often of aristocratic or bourgeois background, and their consumers. This was the first time the wide international ties were researched from the import of the materials needed for lacemaking into German-occupied Belgium to the distribution and selling of Belgian war lace to (potential) consumers in the US and Allied countries. What emerged was a more complex and multi-perspective history with an emphasis on the reciprocal set of relationships between working-class women, Belgian elites, American relief organizations, and Anglo-American consumers, rather than a narrative of an external charitable endeavour.
2 to re-examine historiographies of war lace in light of current research on the history of humanitarianism, American philanthropy, cultural nationalism and gender history.
I developed new historiographical coordinates to bring together recent research in the history of humanitarianism in the First World War, particularly American philanthropy in Belgium and during the blockade of Europe as a form of civic diplomacy, together with scholarship on early-twentieth century cultural nationalism, particularly the participation of women as cultural entrepreneurs and the role of gender in revivals of craft tradition. The results helped nuance the assumption made by recent histories of humanitarianism that the First World War was a turning point in the development of modern humanitarianism.
3 to conduct a programme of practice-based investigation involving textile theory and practice, particularly lacemaking as a humanitarian textile.
Looking at the making (processes) of the things themselves allows for insights into the temporality of materials and its affordance for the social embedding of craft techniques. Through attentiveness to the making of the humanitarian textile, I have supplemented existing analysis of textual representation and aesthetics. I have thus gained new insights into the production of tactile and sensory knowledge, and into the social and cultural value of the handmade object. These insights helped to better understand my findings in the archives and museum collections, propelling my analyses.
Dissemination to academic and professional communities
(1) Peer-reviewed articles
- [in press, 2023] with Ria Cooreman. ‘Vrouwelijke designers in de Belgische kantindustrie, ca. 1890-1920.’ Tijdschrift voor Interieurgeschiedenis en Design.
- 2022 ‘Recuperation, Revival and Survival. A Humanitarian Lace-Aid Programme in Occupied Belgium during the First World War.’ Journal Belgian History, 52 (4): 8-28.
- 2021 with Elena Vanden Abeele. ‘Het Vlaamse kantonderwijs in de 20e eeuw: tussen modernisatie en traditie.’ Volkskunde 122 (3): 381-401.
Submitted and are currently under peer-review:
- ‘The Mobilization of Belgian Lace for Wartime Agendas in the First World War.’ In Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of World Textile, ed. by Janis Jefferies and Vivienne Richmond.
- ‘Beyond Gratitude. Belgian Women, Humanitarian Organisations and Lace-Aid Programmes in the First World War.’ In Humanitarian Handicraft: Textiles, Materiality and Trade, ed. by Rebecca Gill, Claire Barber, Helen Dampier et al. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Dissemination to different target audiences.
(1) A book and an article destined for the wider audiences
- 2022 War Lace. Women, Food Aid and Patriotism During the First World War (1914-1918). Phoebus Focus 29. Veurne: Hannibal Books.
- 2022 War lace. Vrouwen, voedselhulp en vaderlandsliefde in de Eerste Wereldoorlog (1914-1918). Phoebus Focus 29. Veurne: Hannibal Books.
- 2021 ‘War Lace. Saving the Belgian Lace Industry in the First World War.’ The Journal of the Australian Lace Guild 42 (3): 8-11.
(2) Blog text
- 2022 ‘P.LACE.S – Looking Through Flemish Lace: Book Review.’ Lace in Context, 7 January
The results of the projects have been useful for museums with war lace collections. For the wider audiences, the pieces of war lace have become tangible reminders of a rich and complex history.