Activity: Talk or presentation types › Oral presentation
Description
After the armistice of World War I, the Dutch Queen Wilhelmina was presented a lace scarf by the Committee of Belgian Refugees in gratitude for the shelter Holland had offered to the Belgian war refugees. Designed by the Belgian artist Isidore De Rudder (1855-1943) and executed by lace-makers in the Franciscan convent of Opbrakel, the scarf is described as ‘one of the most prestigious items produced under the War Lace scheme, which under the auspices of the Comité de la Dentelle and the Commission for Relief in Belgium, supplied materials and designs to the lace-makers in Belgium during the First World War in order to help them make a living.’ In this paper, I uncover how Queen Wilhelmina’s lace scarf represents an intersubjectivity across gender, class, and borders, by exploring the meanings each individual or groups of individuals involved attached to the object.