Author, lecturer, traveller and collector, John Gillow has spent more than 40 years travelling the world in pursuit of textiles, and sharing his finds with textile lovers all over the world. Besides travelling through remote and sometimes unstable or war-torn areas, John has also written an array of beautifully illustrated books on textiles, including World Textiles, Indian Textiles, Textiles of the Islamic World, African Textiles and Indonesian Textiles.

This November he is visiting New Zealand, and will present a lecture at Te Papa on textiles from Pakistan on Sunday 30 November from 4-5pm. He will also have a range of magnificent textiles for sale. As a dealer, he specialises in unique, vintage and collectible textiles and costumes from around the world. Admission is $10, which not only includes John’s lecture but an Espresso Cafe voucher for refreshments and free parking. Click here to book!

If you are not familiar with John’s work, or if you are already a fan, you might like to tune into this podcast in which John talks about his life as a ‘working traveller’ – a life in textiles which started at the age of 17 in Istanbul. The podcast was recorded during the Maiwa Textile Symposium in 2007.