Some of her students had studied the history of the manufacture of cotton and linen. They had visited the Cromford House Museum in Ratingen, which was the first textiles factory for spinning cotton built in Germany and continental Europe. It was named after the Cromford Mill in Manchester, which was one of the first cotton spinning mills in England.
After studying how the fabric were made, the students learned how to print on cotton and linen and examples of this were shown in the exhibition. They used block printing techniques, using for their inspiration, patterns found on monuments and buildings in Dusseldorf.
The group who were involved in the project for the Lisbon visit studied the History of Carnival. As a result they decided to make costumes for the Dusseldorf Carnival. For these they chose symbols of Dusseldorf. They used or made T-shirts, trousers, jackets and skirts onto which they appliquéd or dyed these symbols. Some of these were in the exhibition and the visiting German students modelled theirs at the end of Ursula's speech.

The Austrian students spoke about the region of Vienna and the history of their school, which is the only Catholic Girls' school in Austria. With slides they described the extra curricular activities in the school such as chess, skiing, the choir and the school ball.
They described the Comenius information corner which had been set up in the assembly hall, with photographs of the other participating schools. The project had been integrated into the curriculum, which had helped them to gain an open minded attitude to all aspects of cultural design.
Each class had taken a different topic in the study of Austrian culture and the use of Textiles. Year 11 had studied textile Production in Austria during Geography lessons. As part of their French lessons Year 10 had studied Haute Couture of the last century, in History they studied the regulations of the Guilds, and in Art, Female Socialisation was the theme. During their Art lessons Year 9 had studied the customs and traditions throughout the ages and Years 10 and 11 had studied the dyeing of fabrics during their chemistry lessons. In order to document the results of everyone's research Years 8 and 10 had used Information Technology to work on the website/homepage and on the online school magazine.

After introducing us to her school, which is a Catholic Girls' Secondary School near London, Patricia described the earlier stages of the Comenius project. To coincide with the visit to Vienna her students, who study Art and Design Textiles, had made accessories inspired by Art Nouveau, some of which were shown by her four students.
As her students have to include a piece of work inspired by a foreign or ethnic culture, they studied the culture of Portugal for one of their pieces of course-work. Last year the theme of the Arts Week was Iberia, Spain and Portugal and their influence abroad. During the week a variety of Spanish and Portuguese artists visited the school to give workshops to the pupils during their various Arts lessons. These included Flamenco and Salsa dancing, Portuguese music, Spanish and Portuguese food, a language workshop, Spanish drama and a Portuguese textile artist. Pictures of the workshops were shown to the conference, using an overhead projector.
Patricia's examination group researched Portuguese history and culture via the internet and literature and each took a different aspect for their work. Five of the pupils looked at typical patterns and design details used in traditional costume to use as inspiration for the dresses they made. The others studied Azulejos tiles, the artist Paula Rego, the fishing industry and the sea, and Portuguese poets. From these themes they produced embroidered and /or quilted pictures and wall hangings.
Finally she said that the next Comenius meeting will be in Upminster in October, during which each country will exhibit and perform aspects of their own traditions and cultures.

The Italian students presented two main themes for their project work, “Past and Present Alimentary Habits” and traditional costume of the Friuli Venezia region.
The students had compiled a questionnaire on past and present alimentary habits which was not only distributed in their own region but also via the internet to the other five participating countries. Through it they were attempting to compare the diets of children from each decade of the 20^th century up to World War II.
The Textiles department had studied the costumes of their region and had looked at which fabrics were used, how they were woven how the costume was manufactured, the decoration, etc. Between them they had also constructed a typical costume using calico. As a result of their studies the students had made beautiful illustrations of these costumes and had also designed a modern outfit inspired by the traditional version.

The students from Romania started their presentation by describing the region around Sibiu and their school. It is a beautiful region with mountains, forests and attractive historic buildings. They explained that they are from an industrial school where the pupils are taught about the traditional textiles and also how to manufacture modern clothing and accessories using traditional decorations.
For their Comenius project they had studied the old technologies of linen manufacture, Romanian popular costumes, and folk costumes. Finally they had studied the influences of folk costumes on present day garments. These traditional costumes show a wealth of embroidery techniques and woven patterns from head to toe with white being used for the main background colour which sets off the colourful; embroidery. During the course of their research they had visited museums to see the equipment used for linen manufacture and also the costumes.
Using these traditional designs they had all helped to make one traditional costume and had then each made a modern garment, a few of them for children, decorated with beautiful traditional embroidery. These were accompanied with design sheets to show how their designs had developed.
The Comenius meeting next Spring will be held in Sibiu, where all the countries will be taking accessories based on their own culture.

An introduction to the concept of PROJECT was made, based, above all, in Boutinet's book ' Anthropology of a Project'.
In post-industrial societies, the perception of 'Time' relates with the notion of Anticipation, which is implicit in the idea of PROJECT.
In our times, we have what we might call ' Cultures in Project', meaning we look at things prospectively, in terms of future, in terms of the unexpected, in terms of risk. Nevertheless, the perception of 'Time' has not been the same through all time. In the societies before industrialisation, 'Time' was connected with the cycles of Nature and, therefore, with Repetition: day and night, the Sun and the Moon. For people, then, this cycle would repeat until the end of time.
In industrial societies, 'Time' is related with the separation between work and leisure. Probably, in the future, people will work less, but will need to study more.
The 'anticipation consciousness' characteristic of our times and which is included in the concept of PROJECT, has, above all, the following functions:
- It provides us with the instruments, the equipment needed to find creative solutions to everyday life, social and individual problems.
- It permits us to maintain those vital forces, such as hope and confidence in others, as well as self-confidence.
As an example of a PROJECT developed in the Textile Art and Design Department, at Arts School António Arroio, a CD-Rom, made by teacher Helena Estanqueiro and teacher José Jerónimo, was presented : 'Timor Loro Sae – Textile as a Vehicule of Cultures'.
The pupils, impressed by the recent violence practised over the people from East Timor, an ex Portuguese colony, located in Asia, studied and recreated the motifs, patterns and symbols, present in Timor 'panaria' (weaving and ikat ), basketry, jewellery and decoration of the houses' exterior, popular activities of great importance.
Images which were shown were
- The crocodile, symbol of Timor - a motif present in Timor Clothes
- A textile drawing from a pupil, inspired by Timor Textiles Symbols and Motifs