John Gillow was the invited speaker at the March meeting of the Oxford branch of the Embroiderers Guild. John is a world renowned expert in textiles from around the world, and has authored many books on the subject – in particular African, Indian, and Indonesian textiles. He began buying and collecting back in the late 1960s – a time of transition between the traditional and the modern world. Having set off as a 17 year old hitch-hiker, buying a few Turkish textiles as presents for his family was the start of a life-long passion.
John is one of the best textile enthusiasts and he provided an unmissable talk focusing on Indian Textiles. The tables were covered in a riotous display of fabrics and embroideries from his collection and we were able to see them close up, including many unusual pieces, as they were passed around while John shared his experiences!
