Silk Unveiled Catalogue

The ARACNE project publication explores the European heritage of sericulture and silk processing as an interplay of innovation, sustainability, and cultural interconnectedness. It highlights how silk production and processing throughout history have linked technology, agronomy, biology, and economics, while also shaping social, cultural, and architectural practices. The publication documents the history of sericulture in seven European countries (Italy, Slovenia, France, Greece, Spain, Bulgaria, and Georgia) through timelines, maps, descriptions of silkworm rearing and mulberry cultivation, and presentations of key cultural and research institutions. The publication emphasises the importance of silkworm farming and silk processing in shaping natural and cultural landscapes as well as social practices, while underscoring their role in the development and preservation of sustainable production approaches. Special attention is also given to the contemporary revitalisation of this heritage and its current applications. Among the most important actors highlighted in the second part of the catalogue are research laboratories, educational institutions, museums, rearers, and other individuals and organisations that preserve, develop, and promote Europe’s silk heritage.