The 17th ETN Conference

Rijksmuseum Volkenkunde, Steenstraat 1, Leiden, venue of the 17th ETN Conference
Rijksmuseum Volkenkunde, Steenstraat 1, Leiden, venue of the 17th ETN Conference; Peter Hilz

The 17th ETN Conference: Dutch Textile Art, Craft & Design
from16 -17 May, 2015 in Leiden, the Netherlands

Now well on its way, this European Textile Network Conference, part of the Dutch “Textiel Festival” organised by STIDOC, an association made up of seven Dutch textile-related organisations, is promising a unique insight in the community of textile creators, educators and curators in the Netherlands.
ETN is organising a two-days conference “DUTCH TEXTILE ART, CRAFT AND DESIGN” from 16 -17 May at the Museum voor Volkenkunde (the National Museum of Ethnography) in Leiden, furthermore textile tours to Tilburg, Amsterdam, Rijswijk, Zaandam & Marken, to Leuven & Antwerp and a Jacquard workshop at the Tilburg Textile Museum. (See http://www.etn-net.org/etn/211e.htm )
The STIDOC foundation, organiser of the Textiel Festival is creating a Leiden Textile Route from 13 to 16 May ( http://www.textielfestival.nl/textielroute.php ) with over 45 textile exhibitions at 34 venues, dealing with textiles on all levels and from all working fields.Textile works like the results of a textile competition for everybody to textile art by professional artists will be on view. Further STIDOC also organises 17 one-day workshops 4 of which are held in English by ETN members (http://www.textielfestival.nl/workshops/dagworkshops.php) and an Arts & Craft market at the St Pieterskerk (a church), the main venue of the Festival. For the complete programme see www.textielfestival.nl/
More textile organisations have joined: The Dutch Textile Commission (textilecommissie.nl see: http://www.textielcommissie.nl/htmldocs/uk-actueel.html) will held its Spring-Symposium to the theme of “Biodesign in textile” on 18 May at the same venue as the ETN Conference, the Museum voor Volkenkunde. Further the Foundation “Textiel Plus” is organising a major Farewell Event at the Scheltema -building, a former blanket factory, with two exhibitions and a Dolls Project. The Textile Research Centre in Leiden will have intensive courses on textiles and textile production (http://www.trc-leiden.nl/trc/)

Ingeborg de Roode, curator for industrial design at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam; keynote speaker at the 17th ETN Conference; photo Piet Noordermeer
Ingeborg de Roode, curator for industrial design at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam; keynote speaker at the 17th ETN Conference; photo Piet Noordermeer

The speakers of the 17th ETN Conference for Saturday 16 May, 2015 are now confirmed:
1. Textiles in the context of the Stedelijk Museum and Dutch Design, Ingeborg de Roode. She is currently curator for industrial design in the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. She will discuss the role of Dutch textiles within the collection and the criteria that apply to collecting textiles today. She will also talk about textiles in the context of Dutch Design and the part played by Dutch designers in the international design world. Ingeborg de Roode organised many temporary exhibitions of which the most recent one is ‘Marcel Wanders: Pinned Up at the Stedelijk. 25 Years of Design’.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWu_1TI95cc)
2. Readable structures, Joke Robaard. Since 2004 the Textile department of the Gerrit Rietveld Academy is called TXT: Textile and Text, these both words derive from the latin verb tessere, which means to weave. From that moment the department has developed an ongoing investigation in combining material research to theoretical research. She is an artist/researcher and a theory tutor at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam. She was the ´visionary`and coordinator of TXT (former textile department)(http://www.jokerobaard.nl/)
3.The TextielLab, a laboratory for research and experiments at the TextielMuseum. Hebe Verstappen. The `beating heart`of the Dutch TextielMuseum is the TextielLab, a working place for research and experiments, in-between a specialised workshop and a laboratory for producing woven and knitted fabrics, prints, embroideries, tufted works and passementerie.Hebe Verstappen is the the Head of the TextielLab of the Tilburg TextielMuseum. She is responsible for the artistic, creative and educative aims of this working place, overlooking its vision and management and initiating & selecting new projects to support this vision. (http://www.textiellab.nl/en/)
4. Innovative Textiles, Lenneke Langenhuijsen of  Buro BELÉN
Lenneke langenhuijsen and Brecht Duijf. They graduated both cum laude from the Design Academy Eindhoven at the “Man & Well-being” Department.Last year BELÉN won the “young talent pin award” and for the Wooden Textiles they received the first prize at “Open Design Italy” (http://magll.blogspot.de/2013_10_01_archive.html) 
(http://www.burobelen.com/)
5.The Importance of craftsmanship in Barbara Broekman´s work, Barbara Broekman. This artist has a special relation with textile materials and manual skills. Educated at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy, she followed the Master of Fine Arts programme at the California College of the Arts in Berkeley, USA. Broekman has completed many large-scale commissions, her work is a.o. in collections of the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, the Tilburg Textile Museum, the Cooper Hewitt Museum, New York. (http://www.barbarabroekman.nl/)
6. Material Mentality?, Simone de Waart.
The lecture will show examples of current Dutch textile designs and  illustrate the sense of materials innovation for textiles. She initiated the company Material Sense, functioning as a network that connects design, research, education and industry to enhance materials innovation. Further she works as lecturer at the Technical University of Eindhoven. (http://www.materialsense.com/)
7. 3D Printed Fashion: From the Computer to the Catwalk, company Materialise. Since Iris van Herpen’s first 3D printed piece took to the catwalk in 2011,a growing number of designers have started to embrace the technology. This presentation has the aim is to give you a look behind the curtain of 3D printed fashion and show how designs by the likes of Iris van Herpen, Anouk Wipprecht, threeASFOUR, Studio XO and more are “materialised”.  (http://www.materialise.com/press/smoke-dress-hits-the-volkswagen-catwalk-in-frankfurt)
(http://www.materialise.com/cases/fashion-and-3d-printing-take-to-the-catwalk-in-tokyo-japan)
8. Collecting and Structuring
Marian Bijlenga. She will discuss how she came to be a collector and in what way the items in her collection influence her own work. The preference for structuring, arranging and connecting evident in her work is reflected in the way she handles her collection. Marian Bijlenga trained as a textile artist at the Rietveld Academy, her work is a.o. included in the collections of the Museum of Art & Design, New York; the Craft Museum Finland; The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam; the TextielMuseum Tilburg/NL
Marian Bijlenga
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWUd7dt2Hus)
(http://marianbijlenga.tumblr.com/)

Marian Bijlenga in her studio; marian will give a lecture at the ETN Conference and she is will open her studio during the Amsterdam tour on Thursday 14 May 2015
Marian Bijlenga in her studio; marian will give a lecture at the ETN Conference and she is will open her studio during the Amsterdam tour on Thursday 14 May 2015

The speakers of the 17the ETN Conference for Sunday 17 May, 2015, (draft as not all speakers are confirmed)

A : Dutch textiles

US magazine Needlecraft, December 1930, frontpage; part of a lecture by knitting designer Constance Willems
US magazine Needlecraft, December 1930, frontpage; part of a lecture by knitting designer Constance Willems

1. Loan Oei: “from Spider Web to World Wide Web”
2. “Textiles at the Rijksmuseum Volkenkunde/Leiden (The National Museum of Ethnology)”, n.n.
3. Maria Friend/Australia: “The influence of Javanese batik in the Dutch art at the beginning of the aa20th century”
4. Jori Zijlmans: The History of “Leids Laken (woollen cloth)”
5. Michaela Leeflang:”The secret of the Middle Ages in gold thread and silk”
6. Nicole Roepers: ” The New Leids Laken (woollen cloth) Project
7. Constance Willems “The North of Holland is Knitting – Knitting in Dutch Art & photography from Rembrandt up to 1969”

B: International textile projects

1. Ludmila Egorova & Andrew Schneider/ Ukraine: Scythia Project
2. Silvia Federova/Slovakia: Minitextile Exhibitions by the Slovak Textile Artists Association TXT
3. Virginija Vitkiene/ Lithuania: Kaunas Biennial since 1997
4. Paola Re/Italy: 25 Years organizing Miniartextil Como
5. Patricia Christy/UK: Celebrating 25 Years of TEXERE & ideas for the future
6. Nino Kipshidze /Georgia: Celebrating 23 Years of the Georgian Textile Group
7. Elisabeth Brenner/Sweden: Nordic Textile Art association
8. Joe Lewis/Canada: International Exhibitions hosted in Canada
9. Susan Taber Avila/USA: Playing nice with others – A practical perspective on the collaborative aaprocess
10. Keiko Kawashima/Japan: Kyoto International Textile Art Center
11. Chunghie Lee/Korea: The Korea Bojagi Forum
12. Paulina Ortiz/Costa Rica & Lala de Dios/Spain: The Red Textil Iberoamericana, a network aaamodelled after ETN
13. Shan Zeng/China: The Hangzhou Academy of Art as the Textile Biennial organizers

De Zaanse Schans, an area with typical traditional Dutch mills and houses, will be visited on Monday 18 May, the Dutch Folklore tour! Photo: Frans Sellies
De Zaanse Schans, an area with typical traditional Dutch mills and houses, will be visited on Monday 18 May, the Dutch Folklore tour! Photo: Frans Sellies

The 17th ETN Conference Tours and trips

Visit to Tilburg on 13 May 2015:
One-day trip by bus to the TextielMuseum Tilburg with an introduction an introduction to the exhibition “Minimalism” followed by a tour through the museum under the motto “Experiment and Inspiration” stressing the making of textiles and the special products made in the museum. The well-known TextielLab (where textile artists/designers are able to experiment and produce with industrial machinery) and the “Minimalism” exhibition can be visited. Having a look at further museum premises is a further option.
After the lunch in the museum cafe the trip will be continued with a visit to the Museum de Pont, a modern art museum in a former spinning mill or with a visit to a weaving mill producing innovative round-knitting today.
Visit to Amsterdam on 14 May:
One-day trip by bus starting with a visit to the newly re-opened Rijksmuseum with a general guided tour of about 1 hour, total time in this museum 2 ½ hour for further exploration. Than the group will walk to the former hospital “Wilhelmina Gasthuis” (WG), today an artists centre, where the ateliers can be visited a. o. of the well-known Dutch textile artist Marian Bijlenga, speaker at the ETN Conference.
 A special chartered boat at the “Leidsebosje” will take us on a tour of 1 hour through Amsterdam. Afterwards time to visit the “Nine little streets”, the famous “Kalverstraat”, the almshouses courtyard at the Waalse Kerk, or the high-end “Bijenkorf” store. The group will gather again at a central point and take the ferry from the Amsterdam Central Station to the new spectacular architecture of the film museum “Eye”.
Visits at the Leiden Textiel Festival on 15 May: For the ETN Conference participants there are special guided tours of about 2 hours each, departure from the Pieterskerk, to some venues of the Textiel Festival. Visit to the Rijswijk Museum: Rijswijk Textile Biennial on 15 May
Rijswijk Textile Biennial with an Indonesian “Rijsttafel” (rice table) buffet and a glass of wine. Departure 17.30 h by bus.
Symposium “Biodesign in Textile” on Monday 18 May: A
symposium in English organised by the Dutch Textile Commission. Costs are 60,- €; about 40 places are reserved for ETN members at this event, that is usually booked out very soon! The flyer can be found here: http://www.etn-net.org/etn/BiodesignflyerUKlores.pdf and the programme draft here: www.textielcommissie.nl/htmldocs/uk-symposia.html
Dutch Folklore Day on 18 May: One-day trip by bus to the Zaanse Schans (www.dezaanseschans.nl/en/). The traditional costume society “de Zaanse Kaper” will show us the costumes of that part of “Noordholland” (province). Further a visit to the “Verfmolen De Kat”, a walk of 10 minutes, is planned where the miller Piet Kempenaar will tell us about natural pigments and dyestuffs (www.verfmolendekat.com). Pancake restaurant De Kraai is our place for lunch this day. Than we move on by bus to Volendam for a boat trip to the peninsula of Marken (http://en.wikivoyage.org /wiki/marken). Curator Neeltje van Altena of the Marken Museum will welcome us and organise our visit: One part of the group is visiting the museum with a special textile exhibition on traditional children’s costumes; the second part will have a guided tour of  Marken. After 45 minutes the groups will be exchanged. Departure by boat and by bus to Leiden.
Visit to Leuven and Antwerp on 19 May 
Arrival at Leuven at 10:00 h to visit the company Materialise to be shown how 3D haute couture is created in this futuristic company. Than we travel to the Antwerp Fashion Museum (MoMu). We are welcomed by MoMu curator Frieda Sorber. Our group will be divided in 3 parts to get to see the current exhibition on Dries van Noten and also the depot plus archive. Return to Leiden around 20.00 h, depending on traffic.
Visit to the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam on 19 May, an informal visit at the Stedelijk Museum´s depot and textile collection. The group will be accompanied by ETN member Anne Mieke Kooper and will be guided by the Head of Design, Ingeborg de Roode (ETN Conference speaker). Meeting place is NOT the Stedelijk Museum but the Depot Stedelijk Museum, Gyroscoopweg 15, Amsterdam (train Leiden-Amsterdam, station Amsterdam Sloterdijk, than a walk of 15 minutes; travel time about 50 minutes).

The 17th ETN Conference workshops

Vibeke Vestby: Working with the TC2 Jacquard loom 
Wednesday 13 to Thursday 14 May at the Tilburg Textile museum. This is the chance for all those who have wanted to try their hands on this electronic Jacquard hand-sample loom, connecting designers with industry and giving artists complete freedom of design!
English language one-day workshops organised by the Textiel Festival a. o.on Thursday 14th May 2015: Beatriz Schaaf-Giesser/D “Felt Art or the Art of 3D Felting”; Jiyoung Chung/Korea/USA “Joomchi”; on Friday 15th May 2015: Silvia Federova/SK “Bobbin Lace Jewelry” and Chunghie Lee/Korea/USA “Bogagi and Beyond” Felt art. Exact dates , venues and costs of these courses are published on the Textiel festival website (http://www.textielfestival.nl/workshops/workshops_english.php)

Registration information

For the 17th ETN Conference: The conference website http://www.etn-net.org/etn/211e.htm is providing the application form: http://www.etn-net.org/etn/ConferenceApplicationLeiden.pdf

For the Biodesign in Textile Symposium the Textielcommissie.nl should be contacted: http://www.textielcommissie.nl/htmldocs/uk-actueel.html

For the one-day workshops please contact the Textiel Festival organisers:
http://www.textielfestival.nl/workshops/workshops_english.php