Songs of Flax – Chapter 2: Breaking Refrains

Workshop developed and hosted with Liza Prins and Bergur Anderson
March 2024
A Tale of a Tub, Rotterdam (NL)

Working with our hands and voices, we moved through collective singing, embodied work rhythms set by plant fibers, and collaborative labor.
This second chapter focused on the mechanisms and movements that break down and remove the inner layers of flax stalks, so that they slowly reveal the linen fibers. Our work was supported by two melodies composed by Bergur Anderson that invited lyrics and vocal elaboration.

Songs of Flax is a research project by Liza Prins and Marie Ilse Bourlanges that delves into the material realities of the historical production of flax, a plant cultivated for its fibers known as linen. The project aims to give these textile practices new relevance today and to identify parallels between labor conditions and protest strategies through song.

Pictures by Liza Wolters

With the support of Mondriaan Fonds and co-funded by the European Union.
Many thanks to Lisanne Jansen, Julia Geerlings, Isabelle Sully and Erika Roux and all the participants.

Postcard riso-printed at Terry Bleu, Amsterdam.