Good Life

Finally had some time to relax, I had a wonderful holiday in Stockholm and got some things done in between. Still not back on track, but on my site you can read about a competition I'm participating in ( I CONTEST - PRINT IT!, please vote for me ) and about my adventures in London ( Practices of Sustainability, Étude #1 and Étude #2 ). 
Thinking about what I should share with you first; the Tapa cloths in Cambridge, my second visit to the Fashion and Textile Museum, meeting Rens Heringa and more things I did here and abroad, I remembered these interesting collection pieces I found in the V&A collection. 
I send a bunch of emails to them trying to visit their archive, not aware of the huge size of the Victoria and Albert Museum. Silly me, you can imagine my jaw-dropping when I was standing at the entrance. 
Well, visiting their archive is still on my wish-list and next time I'm heading to London I will be writing them months in advance!

Preparing for me first stay in the UK, I searched the web for interesting places to visit. Looking in online archives, I found that the Victoria and Albert museum had a great, yet not greatly documented, collection of Batiks.* Most makers are 'unknown', but I can not find if the Batiks are also unsigned. 
I totally fell in love with two pieces of their collection, one I hope to wear one day ('blink') and one looked so familiar, but where did I see it before...

"West African Evening Dress" by designer Matilda Etches

Because I can't say it more beautifully, I copied this text from "Catching a Train in the Rain":

"The gown is an excellent example of a visually compelling, attractive hybrid object. The ‘West African Evening Dress’ by London-based designer Matilda Etches is a European interpretation of a traditional style of wrap worn by women in West Africa. It was made using fabric manufactured in Manchester. The border of the fabric incorporates Morse code ‘V’ and  '...-' as well as the letter ‘V’ for victory in its pattern. Produced in the wake of WWII in 1948, it is also exemplifies the environmental and aesthetic perspective of its time. It is made of cotton rather than silk, and though the wrapping style is based upon African tradition, the overall silhouette is reflective of Dior’s pivotal and pervasive “New Look” of 1947. The gown is a beautiful physical representation of dialogue between cultures as well as an example of Manchester textile industry prowess establishing a practical, immediate connection between the heritage of Manchester and the heritage of other cities, countries, societies, and industries of the world. **

"West African Evening Dress" by designer Matilda Etches

Matilda Etches is now almost entirely forgotten except as a theatre, ballet and opera costume-maker. However, she was an extremely talented couturier, whose fashionable clothes were innovative and very carefully made. When she donated a selection of her work to the Museum in 1969, this dress and a 'Butterfly' cape were shown to senior Museum officials as key acquisitions. They were the first modern fashion items to be accorded this honour.***

Skirt cloth, Batik

The cloth above is the other collection piece that caught my eye. It looks like a Batik Tiga Negeri  and the description in the archive is suggesting the same: Between the end of the 19th century and the Second World War, certain types of highly valued batik cloths drew on the skills and styles of more than one production centre. Known as tiga negeri (three towns) or dua negeri (two towns) they typically reflected the distinct designs and colour palettes. The main body of this tiga negeri design features large flying peacocks (in red, blue and white) between flowering plants, floating on a background that is in the typical colour scheme of Surakarta. It also features squares formed by a lattice bamboo design on the husked grain of rice or gabah sinawur background on which sit leaf, flower and house motifs. The kepala (or head) has a diagonal design in alternate panels of brown, red, blue, red, brown, red ground, with gabah sinawur background on brown sections and floral designs.

The body of the cloth is likely to have been made in Surakarta; the superimposed floral motifs and the kepala in part are likely to have been worked in two different centres on the north coast.****

But why does it look familiar? I suddenly remembered that it reminds me of a Vlisco. When I looked it up on the Vlisco stories website, I couldn't believe it, this is quite sama sama indeed!

"Good Living", Vlisco

This Vlisco design known under the name "Good Living" is a real classic. This design is already 75 years one of the most popular patterns in Ghana. The Batik from the V&A collection is estimated to be made around 1920, that means that these designs are created not more than 20 years apart. Maybe the Batik was a very populair design as well or could it be just coincidence...

This description from the Vlisco stories site points out also its heritage: The colourful flower motifs attest to the Chinese style of batiks that were made in the Javanese village of Pekalongan, where many Chinese traders had their domicile. The name Pekalongan became linked to a dying and printing procedure that is unique to Vlisco and is characterised by very strong and saturated colours.*****

I knew the design from the video I saw at the 'Hollandaise' exhibition in 2012.****** The owner of the fabric explains that you wear this fabric for protection. If people are jealous or even hate you, they cannot harm you. "A good life brings forgiveness". Does the motifs on the Batik mean the same thing? Was it worn for protection or did it mean already that you had a good life?

I would really love to see the original Batik next to the original Vlisco design and find out more about this interesting similar design!

Still from Videoprojection 'The Currency of Ntoma' by Godfried Donkor

* Go through the V&A archive yourself to enjoy their Batik collection 
** "V&A Collection: West African Evening Dress" post on Catching a Train in the Rain
*** http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O83594/west-african-evening-dress-matilda-etches/
**** http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O96702/skirt-cloth-unknown/
***** Vlisco Stories, Story 'Good Living'
****** Previous post on De reis naar Batik "'Hollandaise' at SMBA"

A good place for (temporary) carpets

Laurent Mareschal's work in the front, the dresses in the back by Dice Kayek

Tomorrow I'm going to London, again! And this time to make two public installations, temporary carpets. One on a bridge, another in a park.**

Because I didn't have time to blog about my previous stay, I made so much photos to share with you, and I also didn't have time to blog about cool stuff I saw and did before, so this post will be a mixture of both. 

In September last year I made the decision to quit my parttime job (practically I was already fired, only they called it giving us less hours) and focus again on what I really wanted to do. Make art and work with art. With my decision something was set in motion, and I'm still not sure where it is heading.

First very cool thing on my path was helping the French artist Laurent Mareschal with his carpet made out of spices at the Van Abbemuseum. My favorite museum of all time by the way! 

In 2011 I sent in a proposal for the Theodora Niemeijer price. Apparently I didn't stand a chance, but to my surprise they did remember me. Out of the blue I got an email if I maybe would like it to help make this newly bought artwork, because I had experience in making these kinds of 'carpets'.

Of course I would, I'm still very happy that I made an artwork in my favorite museum. Maybe someday it will be my artwork.

Me and three art students working on 'Beiti' at the Van Abbemuseum

Laurent Mareschal technique is totally different from mine. He uses perspex stencils in which the spices are sprinkled. Working in layers a pattern is created that is based on traditional tiled floors common in the Middle East. The earth colors of the spices and adding less material on some places, add to the real like tiled floor view. 

The smell of the spices is overpowering and is smelled (maybe still) through out the museum. I worked with a mouth mask because I was sneezing so much. 

It was nice helping an artist that is further in his career, making artworks on beautiful locations and is still dealing with the same problems or doubts. It's a never ending quest. We were all in awe of his achievements and he really put things in perspective. Yes of course he is lucky, exhibiting in great museums, but he still needed to put himself on the map every time again and again. Winning one more price, doing a residency, finding new places to exhibit. 

So even if you are there (for most artists an artwork that is being purchased by a museum is the highest goal), you are not there. 

This sounds maybe as a silly thing to learn, but for me it really opened my eyes. I should try even harder. So the next thing I did, I applied again for new exhibitions and a residency. And got lucky.

Beiti by Laurent Mareschal at the Van Abbemuseum

What was also very nice, was helping with a temporary work. I thought the response to my work, making jokes, trying to touch it and things like that, was there because of the locations my work was shown. I though that in a museum people would respond more serious. Well they didn't. I heard just as much cooking jokes as I would hear when I'm making a carpet somewhere. I was so surprised and it was so nice to share this with someone. 

A few weeks after the work was finished, I was back in the Van Abbemuseum for the book launch of die wiese / the meadow 1986-2013 by herman de vries. The work "54 kilograms of lavender" that herman de vries made at the Rijksmuseum Twente had the same strong scent sensation as Laurent's "Beiti" at Van Abbe. 

Before the book launch I went to see the work. Three fingerprints were put precisely in the part I sprinkled. The work was unguarded for only a few minutes, no more, because it's watched constantly, and they discovered that someone did this. One of the attendants told me that she asked a women to keep away from the work. The women responded by putting her hands over the wire pretending to touch it. It happend days before my visit, but the attendant was still so angry. She couldn't understand why people didn't respect the artwork. 

In December I made a list of things I wanted to do and places where I wanted to go. My niece Surya de Wit just moved to London after staying with us a few weeks in the summer. And Laurent Mareschal made a carpet there for the Jameel Prize 3 at the V&A, so I definitely wanted to go before the exhibition ended. To my surprise I was selected for the Cambridge Sustainability Residency and added some days in London to my trip. 

On Wednesday 16 april I headed to the Victoria and Albert museum. There was a huge queue before the Natural History Museum so I skipped that one. Good thing I did because Oh my, what a big museum the V&A is!

Beiti by Laurent Mareschal at the Jameel Prize 3

by Faig Ahmed at the Jameel Prize 3

by Faig Ahmed at the Jameel Prize 3

'Birds of Paradise' by Rahul Jain at the Jameel Prize 3

The Jameel Prize 3 exhibition was directly on the left, so I started there. Next to Laurent's temporary carpet, two more made a carpet for the competition. One I couldn't document (no photos allowed!), the other ones were by Faig Ahmed. Persian carpets, part traditional, part pixels. I wondered why these works where all so Middle East inspired, silly me...Next to the Jameel Prize exhibition room is the Jameel Gallery. The Jameel Gallery of Islamic Art was dedicated to the memory of Mr Abdul Latif Jameel, the late founder of the Abdul Latif Jameel Group, and his wife Nafisa, by Mohamed Abdul Latif Jameel, their son.

The displays explain how Islamic art developed from the great days of the Islamic caliphate in the 8th and 9th centuries AD. They encompass carved ivories from Islamic Spain, inlaid metalwork from medieval Egypt, Iznik ceramics from Ottoman Turkey, tilework from 14th-century Uzbekistan and oil paintings from 19th-century Iran.*

And a lot of carpets! Below a selection of photos I made at the V&A, a good place for (temporary) carpets!

Ottoman Silks and Velvets, from 1550 till 1650

Silk with geometric design, 1300-1400, South-east Spain

The lights above this huge carpet go on for a few minutes every hour

Last carpet for this blogpost: I entered a room filled with big wallhangings and they were almost (maybe all) Dutch. What were they doing there?

* Text from the Victoria and Albert museum website, www.vam.ac.uk

** More about my project "Practices of Sustainability" in London on www.sabinebolk.nl

Hidden Gardens

Sometimes you're missing so much, while doing too much. I'm still in my 'what do I want' phase, but the year is already in half and I'm just doing a lot of things, great things, but no time to think things.
Good thing is that sometimes you have time to do something you didn't organize, like the "Hidden Garden" route in Rotterdam yesterday.
With a rented bike, me, Koen and two sweet friends living the good life in Rotterdam, cycled through the city. Adventure was out there! And hidden, green oases where out there to discover!

Courtyard garden in Rotterdam

Greenhouse in the middle of a neighborhood

Throughly hidden surprizes

Ikebana at the Japanese Cultural Centrum

Ladies relaxing in the sun

This morning, drinking my coffee, reading the newspaper, I was thinking about the great day and the things I missed. In May me and Koen de Wit organized a front yard competition in our neighborhood. Every garden was in the competition and every neighborhood resident could vote on their favorite garden. We also had a jury and different activities during the month like a pruning workshop and building bee hotels. When I was in Cambridge I received the flyer layout by Koen. And oh what a wonderful design it was. It made me very happy. 

Vanuit bed's Front yard competition 2014, design by Koen de Wit

It was a great project and it's so nice to give people prizes for having a beautiful, green, well kept garden. Could do that every week! 

But being busy with different projects, leaves less time to blog or to enjoy Batiks and Wax print designs. To my surprise Vlisco launched their new collection this week. I didn't even blogged about Vlisco's lecture at the Graphic Design Festival in Breda (NL). Which was great and quite funny. Roger Gerards gave a quick introduction on Vlisco and how they now focus on the designers, the makers of the Wax prints designs, and the stories behind those designs. He showed different examples like the famous fans and Michelle Obama's handbag. Normally only building get names by the public, but in the Wax print world every fabric design gets one. 

Roger brought a new, freshly wax printed fabric for us to see, but he didn't realize the crowd would be full of smartphone holding social media sharing listeners. So he couldn't show it and hide it under the speaking stand. Even I made a blurry photo of the small piece of fabric still popping out. Hidden fabrics are even more interesting! 

Designer Erwin Thomasse was Vlisco's next speaker. He is working for Vlisco 3 years now. And I felt a bit jealous. Maybe even a lot. He was working, and still is, as a visual artist in Eindhoven and was discovered by Roger. He invited him to design for Vlisco. First year he didn't designed, only learned about the proces, the technique and the archive. When he made his first design he was well informed and could easily combine his own handwriting with the Vlisco brand. 

What a great opportunity that must be. His style is very graphic and next to his previous designs, he added some new ones in his presentation. Which he than had to skip through really fast!

Well I knew than that the new collection would be graphic and I noticed a pattern in the Vlisco collection release. 

One collection is figurative, more illustrative and soft in style and color, the next one is more graphic with geometric patterns and stronger coloring like the new collection 'Voilà for you'.

The previous collection 'Bloom' had a textile design landmark Roger told during the lecture. Vlisco is well known for their big patterns, but now they made a fabric, a Java print with only one figure: a big, fabric width, flower. And apparently its sold out (some color combinations are still available)!

My favoriete one of the previous collection is the hidden garden (I loved all the designs in this collection actually), what a synchronicity! 

Vlisco design from Bloom collection

 A magical hidden garden

VL051423.06, but no stock at the moment

Another pretty design from the Bloom collection

"If you know who you are, than you know how to communicate"

- Roger Gerards

Fashionblogger Walhalla

Watching  "The Collier Campbell Archive: 50 Years of Passion in Pattern" **

Oh did I feel like the luckiest girl on earth, not only could I make art in Cambridge and meet great people in the process. I could also see these great exhibitions and blog about them and make everyone jealous at home...!

Well I'm still a very lucky and happy girl, and I can still blog about what I saw, but the best thing: You can see this exhibition too!

The wonderful exhibition "Artist Textiles. Picasso to Warhol" is coming to the Netherlands. The TextielMuseum in Tilburg will present it from 14 June 2014 till 14 September. 

In April I went with artist and family member Surya de Wit to see this exhibition at the Fashion and Textile Museum in London. It was a colourful feast with samba music playing loudly, projections of Picasso (who I normally don't like, but I did liked his textile designs) and a lot of fashionbloggers with their smartphones. I was amazed by that, and I felt a little proud, I'm a blogger too and I'm here! Surya comment, "You know, people here actually say it's their profession". 

‘Artist Textiles. Picasso to Warhol’: 

a fascinating overview of 20th-century textile designs from some of the world’s most renowned artists. More than 200 home furnishing and clothing fabrics trace the history of textile design, with examples from Fauvism, Cubism, Constructivism, Modernism, Surrealism and Pop Art. Featuring work by artists such as Pablo Picasso, Raoul Dufy, Salvador Dalí, Henri Matisse, Sonia Delaunay, Marc Chagall, Henry Moore, Fernand Léger, Barbara Hepworth, Ben Nicholson, Joan Miró, Andy Warhol and Alexander Calder, the exhibition shows how modern art became accessible to all.*

After Art Nouveau

"From William Morris onwards, many artists in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries attempted to make their works more relevant to the lives of ordinary people... 

Between 1910 and 1939, many members of the Fauvist, Futurist and Constructivist movements in particular became involved with textile design, which quickly came to be seen as an important aspect of an artist's work"

- Exhibition text

The Fifties

"Running deer" and "Harvest time" by Rockwell Kent, 1950, made for Bloomcraft Inc

Detail of Harvest time" by Rockwell Kent, 1950, made for Bloomcraft Inc

"Fish", textile design by Pablo Picasso, 1955 

"The farmer's dinner" by Miro

The Sixties

"Buttons", textile design by Warhol

"Happy Bug Day", textile design by Warhol

"Wedding picture", textile design by Saul Steinberg

I didn't document all the names & titles, but from the titles I have, it's clear that the artists see their textile design as an artwork. A canvas that can be watch flat,  per meter, and shaped into a dress. 

"The Farmer's Dinner" by Miro, is for me a 'modern' interpretation of how the symbolic image of a chicken is used everywhere in the world. A symbol for good fortune: if you own chicken, you have food. And if you wish good fortune, you were something with chicken on it.

"The Wedding Picture" by Saul Steinberg, is a very funny, yet subtle design. Surprisingly not for dresses but to sit on...

Warhols buttons and bugs are simpel and very trendy. I think these fabrics would still be very populair for clothing or decorating the house.

This exhibition showed me that even if your medium as an artist isn't textile, you can definitely design for textiles. But you first have to be famous...

The Collier Campbell designs

A very nice part of the exhibition was in the last room. On the walls framed sketches, notes, prints and watercolours of the marvelous collection of designs made by Susan Collier & Sarah Campbell. This introductions for me was a mix of joy and envy. The colorful patterned seemed to be put on paper with such ease. Only a ton of talent could provide your hands with such skills. 

Silk scarves with jumping sheeps, greeting cards with butterflies and bed linen with birds. A patterned world sold not only for a few fans, but made for Marks & Spencer and other shopping giants. 

I hope they include this part of the exhibition in Tilburg!

Fashionista's and fashionbloggers ***

* More information on www.textielmuseum.nl and www.ftmlondon.org

** Nice video about The Collier Campbell Archive: 50 Years of Passion in Pattern

*** Some Fashionblogger posts I found online about this exhibitions or textiles shown in this exhibition:

- by Historically Modern Modern Print Monday: Andy Warhol

- by The Clothes Maiden Artist Textiles: Picasso to Warhol

- by Marguerite Designs From Start to Finish - The Collier Campbell/Sarah Campbell Story

- by Monica D. Murgia Textile designs by Rockwell Kent

(If you posted or found a post about this subject, please share it in a comment! Thank you!)