Pilot 6
The Art of Silk Museum (Greece)


     SILK

     SOUFLI, GREECE


About Art of Silk Museum

The town of Soufli is closely linked to silk. The rearing of silkworms and the production of  high-quality silk has been locally passed from generation to generation ever since the  industry flourished in the 19th century. However, the advent of synthetic silk and the fall in  prices for silk cocoons, as well as the loss of the mulberry trees that feed the silkworms, led  to a decline in the local silk industry. A collaboration with the fashion industry is now  attempting to revive the local industry, with fashion designers using the silk in their products.  Tourism is also a route to attract clients beyond Greece. Soufli has been named a Best  Tourism Village for its unique preservation of the silk industry and of all stages of silk  production. The Art of Silk Museum aims to showcase and preserve the region's rich  silk-making tradition through exhibitions, tours, workshops and a school for teaching with  handlooms. Leftovers from silk production are used for creating products like rugs.


Activities

  • Digitise traditional patterns and experiment with printing these on clothing, accessories and household items.

  • Examine how digital looms can apply complex traditional patterns to modern fabrics  for haute couture.

  • Create a digital exhibition to inspire fashion designers’ new collections.

Results

  • A set of digitised traditional patterns and a digital exhibition.

Impact

  •  Options for digitally preserving traditional handcrafted woven motifs and patterns so that they can be used in new applications and made available  to designers and other users.