Fluid Fibers – Fertile Fibers

Alarm #5, hosted at Atelier Severine Amsing, 2021
installation (weaving looms wrapped in collected textiles) and performance in collaboration with Atelier Severine Amsing
3x videos and material experimentations 
Artistic research & research trip to Burkina Faso (recipient of research grant by Gerbrandy Cultuurfonds)

Bogolan is a textile technique, vernacular from West Africa – particularly found in Mali and Burkina Faso, from the ethnic group Bambara and Dogon – which consists of dyeing woven cotton fibers with fermented mud. Described as cloth “literally made of earth, forests, rivers and sun”, my fascination for this traditional technique is triggered by its potential to capture a landscape over a textile surface: earthy pigment patterns speak of a direct relationship to soil, and – by extension – of physical relationships with natural resources and their environment. With a multilayered approach, this artistic research over the specifics of Bogolan in Burkina Faso branches out towards themes of embedded knowledge and labor, silent textual qualities of textile, esoteric protective powers of cloth.

This artistic research is part of a long-term investigation on connecting textile myth and hidden narratives to constructs of womanhood and motherhood, entitled Je File un Fil pour ma Fille ( I Spin a Thread for my Daughter).