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
Wednesday, May 14th, 2025
Talk by Penny Oakley: 'Suzanis: A New Light on an Old Story.’
University Women’s Club. 1800 for 18.30 (GMT).
Samarkand or Shakhrisyabz suzani, Rippon Boswell, 11.4.2015, Vok Collection I
Suzanis: A New Light on an Old Story
Despite being created in a well-documented period, surprisingly little is known about the suzani of Central Asia. The known facts, rather than the oft-repeated suppositions, are meagre but the historical and international cultural and trading background may at least add a few more pieces to the puzzle.
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Penny Oakley has worked with Islamic embroideries for many years and has published regularly in Hali on such topics as Ottoman Anatolian kilims and silk embroideries.
She was one of the authors of Stars of the Caucasus: Silk Embroideries From Azerbaijan (2018). She is also co-author, with Markus Voigt and Christian Erber, of the forthcoming Suzani: art of the Silk Road, due to be published in hardback in May 2025.
Guests welcome. Please contact Dimity Spiller to enquire.
More dates for your diary
Please scroll down to the bottom of the page for details
​Wednesday, 18th June 2025
Jordan Quill: 'A Taste for the Exotic: The Textiles of Tibet and the Himalayas since the Age of the Tibetan Empire.'
University Women’s Club. 1800 for 18.30 (GMT).
​Sunday, 13th July 2025
ORTS summer lunch party and auction
Broad Oak, Rye. 1200 onwards.
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.
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EVENTS IN DETAIL
