Introduction to the events that were spread over 14th, 15th, 16th and 17th October.
The European Union supported the one day international conference on the 15th that was attended by about 130 people. 
LDA planned several fringe events before and after this conference to attract a larger, more specialized audience. 

On the 14th a special site visit was arranged with the National Museum Colombo to visit the textile storage facility. The group of speakers, students and academics involved with textiles studies were able to see, examine and photograph historic textiles from Sri Lanka in the museum's collection. 

On the 15th the international conference itself was convened at the Galle Face Hotel beginning with a lunch for speakers and invitees. The conference began at 1.30pm attended mainly by students and continued until 6pm. 

The following day the 16th a smaller group met at the Goethe Institut for a workshop titled Somana, Soman and Beyond. The workshop ended with an exhibition titled Costume Speaks. 

On the 17th a study tour of Selyn Handlooms was arranged for a group of 26 students, mainly from Jaffna to tour the various facilities used by Selyn Handlooms to produce their quality products.

The following pages document the events of the 14th, 15th 16th and 17th October.

Organized by Department of Fine Arts, Jaffna University, American Institute for Lankan Studies (AILS), Colombo, Lanka Decorative Arts (LDA) and Sri Lanka Archive of Contemporary Art, Architecture & Design, Jaffna. Conference Conveners: Dr. T. Sanathanan, Senior Lecturer, Department of Fine Arts, University of Jaffna and Dr. Ayesha Abdur-Rahman, Founding Director, Lanka Decorative Arts, Colombo