The LSU Textile & Costume Museum is making its post-renovation return to campus. Although the museum did have to cancel its planned grand opening this Sunday, Aug. 29, the doors of this hidden gem will still open to the public this week (pending no storm damage). The opening will showcase the recent work put into renovating the space as well as its newest exhibition.
The main attraction: the “Trajé: Maya Textile Artistry” exhibition, which features items donated by Travis Doering, a faculty member at the University of South Florida, including textiles and artifacts from 40 Mayan villages in the Guatemala highlands. From colorful, backstrap loom-woven huipiles (blouses), Cortes (skirts), Cintas (headdresses), rebozzos (shawls), and fajas (belts), the handwoven clothes on display represent an essential legacy not just to the history of dress, but to the indigenous culture that flourished in Mesoamerica and reached its peak from 250-900 A.D. with an estimated population as high as 10 million people.
Pam Vinci, Director of Museum, said, “Before the building wing was transferred to the LSU Textile & Costume Museum, it was the site of the LSU Child Development Laboratory Preschool with all of the furnishings, walls, window, and cabinetry required for that usage. The renovation resulted in a space now fully furnished and fully functional as an exhibition gallery.”
