One More Thing from Tilburg

Pop Art Fabrics and Fashion – From Warhol to Westwood

Temporary exhibition Textiel Museum, Tilburg

The exhibition was on the ground floor in the museum located between the Lab and the historical gallery. Having had such openness of conversation and photography even with the commissioned pieces happening in the Lab it was strange to move to  space of no photographs. So my initial visit had some sneaky pictures, my second visit I asked and the guard was kind enough to say yes for educational purposes. Which with the complexity of the exhibition narrative and some innovative textile and fashion curation was really helpful to record for future reference.

The exhibition opened in the era of Rock ‘n Roll with some excellent examples of how textile print captured the zest and energy of the time. Textiles as an advertising and marketing a tool were presented through pieces from Bassett’s Liquorice allsorts, Bass Long Life Beer and Martini. This was innovative brand development and pieces that are often discarded. The Martini printed fabric had been made into a circular skirt confirming the sophisticated message of the drink and its standing as an aspirational brand.

sneaky photo hence blurred.......martini skirt

The hook of the exhibition were the pieces from Andy Warhol and Vivienne Westwood. I have a mixed relationship with Warhol. I am in awe of his ability to grab the zeitgeist of the time and be such an innovator. The taking of his work by Philip Treacy to create headwear breathed new life into over used visuals. So I stepped into this part of the exhibition determined to remove my pre-conceived thoughts and biases. I was justly rewarded. The textiles pieces were fresh and exquisitely created and charted the time pre fame when Warhol worked as a graphic designer and created textile designs. With the current vintage pattern trends the fabrics displayed were really appealing. I particularly liked the colours and shapes on the lemon print and the fountain pen print which had been made into a skirt. There were not many pieces in this part of the display but enough to tell the narrative, make one smile and look again at a designer who can be ubiquitous.

Warhol Lemon Print

Turning from the Warhol the exhibition moved cleanly into 1960’s design. The tabloid of fashion was well formed with excellent mannequins, displaying the clothes and the look. Fashion exhibitions can be difficult, a fine line between a shop display and museum narrative. The casing for the stands was beautiful. Sometimes it would be great to just walk into an exhibition and see the exhibition not the accouterments that make it. But I am away on research work, so I guess its allowed!!

Op Art dresses

Great range of Rabanne, Quant, Cardin and some hand made pieces highlighting how the look was taken on by teenagers and youths. The vitrines along side had stunning selections of jewellery and accessories which confirmed the pop art and op  arts impact on fashion and design. The scenography of the exhibition was well designed and implemented.

The two rooms to the right charted the next stage and how music played an influential role. There were some high profile pieces from paper dresses and the adverts that promoted them to pieces designed and worn by the Beatles. I particularly liked the knitwear piece designed by Hockney. Always good to see a bit of Yorkshire.

Hockney designed jumper

The final room showcasing the Westwood pieces was a mix of video, oversized objects, T-shirt design and the clothes from punk. Again well spaced and engaged the viewer. Having such open space to exhibit and showcase work makes such a profound difference.

Really excellent exhibition even more so when I was able to take photographs.......

Farewell Tilburg

Farewell Tilburg

I have packed in so much into the time here, yet would happily stay longer to unearth more about the history of the place and the impact that that has on the success of the museum and the venture of the Lab. Tilburg has similarities with some of our smaller Yorkshire mill towns and Luton and its hatting as the industry was composed of 150 SME’s just 40 larger companies and in its hey day employed 15,000 workers, producing 65% of the wool production in The Netherlands.

Tilburg has no notable industry left socio geographers would see this as Phantom industry in having no direct economic industry but social scars from the past. The museum has become a small catalyst for social regeneration. All the members that I met at the museum were highly positive and saw this as a great opportunity to create new opportunities and tell the story of the textiles industry which had formed the town. The Tilburg model could be another way to do this with the appropriate regional and national support and collaborative structure between artisans, academia and museums.

I first heard of Tilburg from Eugenie van Oirschot, a milliner from The Netherlands, when I attended a workshop with her in Edinburgh. She spoke with such zeal about what the museum and textile lab achieved for designers and the artisan community that I wrote it down in my wish list. To have finally visited and had the opportunity to see it in action thanks to the Winston Churchill Fellowship I understand that passion. The museum is a definite catalyst for change in the community and the region, thanks to its inspirational vision and a team who work together to inspire and aspire to new textiles futures.

The Damask Shed

The Damask Shed

A trip through the gift shop

I nearly missed this gallery space and I wonder if others would too, which would be a shame as the space is beautiful and the light falling onto the looms enhances this. The Gallery tells the story of damask weaving. As with the other spaces beautifully crafted and aesthetically well designed the visitor is drawn through the museum. I had definite bench envy where the film showing the process was. Great film too. Then a more traditional museum casing explored the livery of the Ocean liners, their cutlery, crockery and the damask. A golden age.

Finally the loom shed showing the difference in the fine linen weaving and a shelf unit stacked upon stacked with pattern weaving cards. Things of beauty. Narrative tellers, opportunities, new inspiration.

The Museum Shop.....

The Shop

You can always tell the quality of a museum by its shop and café.......Discuss?

The joys or not of the obvious commercial spaces of a museum. Often the last port of call in any visit and the one that can leave the most pertinent memory. The space in the Textiel Museum is beautifully laid out and as with the rest of the museum is to a high quality specification in display. The pieces for sale reflect what one has seen within the rest of the museum. Here is your opportunity to buy the Viktor & Rolf designed jacquard dishcloth with graffiti splurge or a table cloth designed by Droog. This was interspersed with a strong collection of jewellery made by Nederlands designers, felt and wool pieces and I even found a Margo Selby scarf. The space and the staff were all very welcoming and there were pieces for all price points. Good thing that I came with a full suitcase... lots of lovely new books I would have liked and some gorgeous textiles.

Margo Selby scarf

Gallery 4 - Design Challenges

Gallery 4

The transition from accomplished highly professional textile pieces developed through commissions  into a sampling and trial space was informed and innovative curation.  Gallery 4’s exhibition  examined the processes of the project ‘solar curtains’, a design commission from Qatar. The Gallery was laid out as small studio areas and displayed the range of yarns experimented with to develop the best fit for the project. The samples created from each yarn base and the critiques from these. Highlighting the many samples designers have to create to meet the client’s needs. Most of the pieces one could touch, to see and feel, how textiles has opportunities and isn’t always as we would expect. The exhibition was drawn to a close with a film showing the curtain design in situ. I found this to be a really informative space, a great pedagogical tool for design students whilst also informing a wider audience of how new textiles are designed and the boundaries that are being broken. 

Gallery 3 - the Lab comes to Life

Gallery 3 & 4

As you may tell from my posts so far the Museum and Lab at Textiel Museum Tilburg are interwoven. They share the same vision to explore experiment, stimulate and innovate as true pioneers in developing new textiles. This is a truly unique asset and one to see as best practice.

           Past, present, theory, practice creativity and expertise converge to create strong                    futures.

By offering the space, time, means and materials to fuel further advances in craftsmanship, we look forward to keeping this heritage alive well into the future’

Errol van der Werdt, Director.

The Textiel lab produces an annual year book to share the projects, commissions and successes. When I first looked at these in the library I was amazed by the breadth of their projects and their passion and fearlessness. The wish to succeed and push limits. The focus on the potential for the textiles industry and what they can achieve through collaborative spirit and trying, failing and trying and succeeding is vast.

To then move into Gallery’s 3 & 4 and see the year books come to life was a privilege. The felt pieces by Claudy Jongstra that I had just seen photographs of were hung in front of me. The innovative Droog design group had used design and fine art constructs to create new works and maximise the potential of the materials.

 Looking through the Gallery exemplified the innovative vision and openness of the museum’s director and the Mondrian Trust who funded many of these commissions. The exhibition was readable by those new to textiles & textile art and its potential as well as those who were already inducted. The supporting videos and bilingual text supported this further. There were many pieces that I loved. The levels of acceptability and ease of reading the pieces added to the exhibitions value and openness to the general public. Most will find table linen easy to access, so with the artists reinterpretation of this through creating a modular cloth to add humour to place settings in unusual colours or weave patterns made through using music cards instead of jacquard cards, discussions begin and the textiles have a new life and narrative.

A little more on Tilburg

More areas:

On speaking with Stef Miero at Textiel Lab, the other areas that are key to the museum are the laser cutter which is a tool of increased interest and demand. The knitting area which had a range of small circular knitting devices and several long knit machines and tubular yarn machine. Again all were in use and there were lots of examples of completed commissions alongside the machines to show visitors what was possible and the range of work that is done within the Lab.

circular knitting machines. 

I was intrigued by the tufting area as I haven’t seen carpet looms up close before. The walls were shelved with cones and cones of wool of a myriad of hues, a perfect palette of shading from one colour to the next. Samples of what was possible were on the loom and along the side of the space. Once again the visitor was encouraged to look, engage and touch. This approach enables visitors to have a greater understanding of the textile and the maker and the skills and time needed to create.

There is a printed textiles area but there was a fine layer of dust around all the equipment. This was a skill that hasn’t been in such demand so for the moment is moth balled, showing the importance of adaptability and maximising resources.

mid production

explanation of manufacture

The other area that made me think of making and looking at new ways to work was the passementerie. Located at the back of Gallery 2, near the finishing machines, it included a range of small braiding machines and large braiding looms. The diversity of threads that could be used and the potential to create new textures, properties and opportunities for braid was exciting. I began leaping into hat making and creating new braid to replace straw which is difficult to obtain. The joy of museum and archive inspiration. Something new drawn from reflecting on past heritage, creating new possibilities.

Catching Up,,,,,,,,

Catching Up ------

I had promised myself to write daily and be diligent in capturing my thoughts from each experience. I have done so in my trusty moleskin notebook but not so in this blog. A day in archives and collections is more energy sapping than one expects.....such a poor excuse.

Back to Tilburg so many days and experiences ago now.

Gallery 1 – Textiel Lab

one of the small looms

Walking into the space the first time totally lifted my heart (bit extreme I know for blog writing!) Here laid out within a museum setting was exactly what I had aspired to within Hat Works and within the textile museums in Yorkshire. Textiles, artisanship, design and manufacture totally alive and well and moving forward. Not ignoring the past but aware of the history and skills and breathing in new life with sound commercial underpinning and an awareness of market needs.

Within the lab area is a design hub where meetings can be held and the managers of the space work. A weaving hub with a range of new high quality looms, the Lab work with Dornier Jacquard Loom company who appreciate and welcome the unique synergy between atelier and museum in leading to new textiles. Including 3 jacquard looms, 2 plain looms, one similar to the Yorkshire Hattersley, but powered by a static bike, which visitors can ride on and weave cloth. The jacquard card puncher was a particularly beautiful thing.

The looms were quietly humming away. On my first visit one was weaving cloth to be sold in shop as table linen, another was having its warp set up and I saw the magic created the following day by Belgium artist Otobong Nkanga. She is based in Antwerp and has worked with the lab since 2010 working with the skills of the team to realise her artistic ideas. The piece she was developing was based on topographical photographs and through the use of browns, golds and blacks on the jacquard she had created the first layers of her three dimensional landscape. I was fortunate to share the moment when her cloth was cut from the loom and cascaded onto the floor by Stef the Manager. Such an experience is one that brings a museum visit to life and creates such memories. All the techncians were working on projects at the different machines but all were happy to talk and answer questions .To be so close to a moving loom raises ranges of Health & Safety queries yet these seem to be manageable and increase the sense of belonging and being allowed to be within the space as a visitor.

Other areas in the lab included a machine embroidery area with a Brother and SWC machines. I spoke with the technician who was completing a commission for a British artist embroidering symbols onto ikat cloth. The handwoven ikat had taken a year to produce to the artist’s design then the lab was completing the work. Such a project is a big part of the lab’s work and generates important incomes.

Gallery 2 - The Machine Floor

The Story of Wool Cloth Production
From elements of previous work and projects the machinery around wool and worsted manufacture is a known commodity that I am fascinated by. Though I am not always certain as to what it all does and love to see it working to further educate and inform me. The display at the Textiel Museum is well laid out and accessible to those with some knowledge and no knowledge. On the two days that I visited the gallery there were several attendants on hand to share knowledge and work the machinery, which brought the story to life further. They were incredibly engaging and enthusiastic and were happy to share stories and answer questions. The signage throughout the exhibition was also highly appropriate with archive photographs, machinery knowledge and dates and where the machines came from. It was all highly illuminating in creating a working, contemporary and engaging museum narrative through display, volunteers, examples and signage.

The exhibition space begins with large sacks of beautifully clean wool tops that the visitor can touch and gain a sense of the materials used. Museum information is in a clip board style which I felt was really user friendly and not over facing. The historic pictures add to the scene. I did wonder whether there was a need for more such pictures but they could be elsewhere for visitors who are more interested in the history. There was a real sense of placing the story locally in Tilburg.

Wool sack and exhibition signage

The Devil's Mill

The 'Duvel Molen' Devil's Mill described the picking shed where all the wool was sorted to the desired blend before being dyed or spun. Back breaking work and highly dangerous.

Back of the Devils Mill and those scary teeth

the clocking in machine I did wonder if the workers of Tilburg were shut out from the factory gates if a minute late as the Yorkshire Mill workers were.

Heterotopia - the place for otherness

Museums as places for otherness

I took this reference from the book Fifty Years of the Textile Museum 1958-2008,   I consider that it very much sums up how I feel about museums and galleries. They are places for new ideas to be generated from past collections and stories. They can create humility giving us a new sense of place and time. The opportunity to see items that if it weren't for museums and archives we would lose.

The Textile Museum is striving to be a place of openness and freedom but within that the visitor and researcher needs security. Hence the notion of heterotopia. Somewhere that sits between public and private. Open to collaboration, new ideas, and sharing the production of textiles in the past, present and importantly future.

This was very apparent walking around the mill floor. Seeing the old looms that still work and tell the story of production then moving through the door and seeing the Textiel Lab in operation. New looms doing the same job as old. New designers working effectively with technicians to test ideas and create new work. Inspirational.