Premises

By virtue of the agreement with the Municipality of Chieri renewed in 2019, the Foundation has its registered office at the Imbiancheria del Vajro in the outskirsts of Chieri, where various historic textile machinery is preserved and made available to the public on the occasion of temporary events such as the "Tramanda" biennial of Fiber Art, and exhibitions of works from the ‘Trame d'autore’ civic collection.

The main premises of the Foundation are in the former convent of Saint Claire, a fifteenth-century monastic complex in the heart of Chieri. From the entrance on Via Giovanni Demaria 10, it is possible to access the offices, archive, and library of the Foundation at the ground floor. Also housed here is the bandera embroidery atelier run by Anna Ghigo, president of the Associazione Amici del Ricamo Bandera, who contribute preserving and innovating the Piedmontese tradition of ‘needle painting’, testified by many historic artifacts in Savoy residencies. 

The long, cross-vaulted porch at the ground floor leads to the workshop of natural dye art and batik, run by young artist in residence Giulia Perin – Emina. This is overlooking the cloister with our Textile Botanical Garden®, where textile and dye plants are grown. Designed by the architects Clara Bertolini and Manuel Ramello within the framework of the project ‘An educational site for Chieri, City of Textiles’, this garden was created with funding from the Municipality of Chieri and Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo, who selected the project amongst many proposals applying for the ‘Places of Culture’ contest (2017-2019).

The Textile Museum, still in St. Claire’s convent but in the basement, is accessible from Via Santa Clara, at street number 6.

At a stone’s throw is the entrance to the former chapel. Today, thanks to restoration and renovation work completed in recent years, this place, known as 'Sala della Porta del Tessile', is a multifunctional space for temporary exhibitions, workshops, conferences, and concerts.