History as told by Clothes and Laces

This original exhibition will be inaugurated at Centro Documentazione Luserna/Dokumentationszentrum Lusérn on 6 April 2015. It goes back in time to make us discover the charm and the vitality of the textile industry of Luserna/Lusérn through yarns, textiles, clothes and laces.
The tour pathway, which is divided into two sections, retraces the history of fashion between the XIX and XX centuries, wondering on the social, economic, political and artistic evolution of Luserna/Lusérn.

The first section, "Abiti e Merletti raccontano la Storia" ("History as told by Clothes and Laces"), which is temporary for the year 2015, occupies all the rooms of the top floor. It displays items from the Belle Époque: the aim of this exhibition is to show, through the exposition of old clothes and their accessories, the transformations on a social, economic, political and artistic level during the years between 1890 and 1918. Yarns, textiles, clothes and laces are thus a mirror of the social changes which have had a relevant impact also on the textile industry of this area.

The other section, "S gekhnöppls ats Lusérn - L'arte del Merletto a fuselli di Luserna" ("The art of Bobbin Lace of Luserna/Lusérn") is permanent and occupies two rooms of the second floor. It displays a typical cultural element of Luserna, that is the creation of bobbin lace production. In 1883 the Ministry of Education of Vienna established a three years-long Vocational School in order to give a trade to many girls. The Central Course of Laces of Vienna dealt with the teachers' specialization, the supply of drawings, of didactic material and of the marketing of laces. The School, for over thirty years, was an important source of income for many families in Luserna and, in this way, it represented a singular cultural element, as well as pride, for the Cimbrian community.
The second section reconstructs the setting of the historical lace school and will show its history, process and phases of production as well as exquisite final items from both past and present.
Nowadays, a lace school is operative since two decades and it is promoted and supported by the "Istituto Cimbro - Kulturinstitut Lusérn".
The "Associazione Culturale Merletto di Luserna - Khnöpplspitz Lusérn" has been founded recently.