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
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| one of the small looms |
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.
