Veronika Gervers: Research Fellowship in Textiles & Fashion History

The Veronika Gervers Research Fellowship was established in 1979 to honour the work and memory of Veronika Gervers, a pioneering textiles and dress scholar. While a curator at ROM  –  from 1968 until her untimely death in 1979 – Veronika carried out groundbreaking research in Eastern European dress history and built worldclass collections. Her skills as an embroiderer and draughtsperson brought deep insights to her studies, which include The Hungarian Szür: An Archaic Mantle of Eurasian Origin  (1973) and The Influence of Ottoman Turkish Textiles and Costume in Eastern Europe  (1982). Gervers’ legacy lives on in her influential work exploring Hungary’s material past and in the Veronika Gervers Research Fellowship in Textiles and Fashion History.

The fellowship established in her honour exists to promote innovative research on ROM’s exceptional collection of Global Fashion & Textiles with over 40,000 textiles and fashions from around the world and across time. The Fund supports an annual Fellow to be in residence at ROM, to study a selection of works and develop a public presentation.

Applicants can include scholars, curators, educators, conservators, community members, artists, and makers. Projects must contribute new knowledge on some aspect of textiles, dress or fashion—their past, present or future. Through the support of these activities, the grant is meant to enhance access to, and stewardship of, ROM’s Global Fashion & Textile collections, and advance studies on the importance of cloth and dress in the human experience.

The award has two components:

1. A  study of a selection of  ROM'S Global Fashion & Textiles collections. Maximum of $9,000, or residency of 2 weeks.
2. A public offering which may be a virtual ROM program, ROM Online Collections enhancement, in-person presentation, workshop, podcast, or other. The format will be decided in conversations between ROM and the successful applicant.

Eligibility

The award can be made to a person or a group of people. It is open to residents of any country, 18 years and older. Non-Canadian applicants will be responsible for obtaining necessary visas, permits and any other permission that may be required.

Level of Award

A maximum award of $9,000 CAD is available for the proposed project. The grant can be used for direct expenses related to the project such as transportation, visas, accommodation, supplies, equipment. See Budget section of the application for more details.

Award Selection Criteria

• Applicant's demonstrated history of engagement with textiles, dress or fashion
• Relevance and significance of the ROM collection to the project
• Originality and innovativeness of the project, especially toward new perspectives, sources, or methodologies
• Rigour of the project
• Care and clarity of objectives and design of the project
• The viability of the project within the time frame and budget, and how prepared the applicant is to carry out the project
• The contribution of the project to the applicant’s professional or personal development
• The impact of the project on wider audiences and communities
• Letters of support

Application Materials

• Completed 2025 Application form. Total application must not exceed 7 pages.
• 2-page resume for the lead applicant(s). If more than one lead applicant, please designate who will be responsible for communication, reporting, and budget.
• 2 reference letters that testify to the applicant's ability to fulfill the proposed project(s). These letters are to be emailed separately and directly to VGerversFellowship@rom.on.ca by the deadline.

Pre-Application Inquiry:

Applicants are strongly advised to contact the museum in advance to seek specific information on suitable and relevant ROM objects and collection areas related to their study before submitting an application. Some but not all objects are currently visible on ROM’s Online collections (https://collections.rom.on.ca/collections/14320/emuseum-home). Please submit all queries to VGerversFellowship@rom.on.ca

Important dates

• March  10, 2025 Call for proposals open
• May 30, 2025 Deadline to submit proposals
• July 15, 2025 Notice of decision
• Sept 1,  2025 Funds made available

Veronika Gervers was born Molnár Vera [Vera Molnár] in Hajdúnánás, Hungary. She studied art history and archaeology at the University of Budapest, under the historian Zádor Anna [Anna Zádor]. She completed her PhD thesis on medieval central Hungarian churches in 1965, work which was published as volume 4 in the series  Művészettörténeti füzetek  under the title  A középkori Magyarország rotundái  (Budapest, 1972). Gervers’ classroom notes were so comprehensive that they were used by Szabó Julia [Julia Szabó] to reconstruct the lectures of Fülep Lajos [Lajos Fülep]. After graduation, she took charge of the excavation of a medieval castle at Sárospatak and the 12th-century rotunda at Karcsa.

In 1967, she moved to Toronto and married Michael Gervers (currently a professor of History and Art History at the University of Toronto). In 1968, she began to work at the ROM as a curator in the Textiles Department, a position she gained through her long-standing interest and competence in studying textile history, in addition to her skill as a cross-stitch embroiderer and reputation as a professional and accomplished draughtsperson. She published  The Hungarian Szür: An Archaic Mantle of Eurasian Origin  in 1973 as vol. 1 in the Museum’s series on history, technology, and art. In 1977 she edited and contributed to  Studies in Textile History: In Memory of Harold B. Burnham, a book commemorating the life and work of a former member of the Textiles Department and husband of Dorothy K. Burnham, the department’s first head curator.

Gervers died in 1979 at the age of 39. Two of her books were published posthumously:  The Influence of Ottoman Turkish Textiles and Costume in Eastern Europe  (Toronto, 1982) and  Ipolyi ​Arnold hímzésgyűjteménye az Esztergomi Keresztény Múzeumban  (Budapest, 1983).