I've been all over the place lately. Work has taken me to opposite sides of the world: Mexico and Japan. In both countries I've been exploring new ways to apply old knowledge, to create sustainable perspectives for the future.
Japan and Mexico are opposites in more than geographical terms. It's organized chaos versus structure and order, exuberance versus subtlety. But what both countries share is a rich craft culture. A craft culture that's slowly dissolving into the globalizing economy, and with it an abundance of knowledge is lost. I explore the ways in which traditional knowledge and practices can still be relevant. How can craft practices be adapted to continue their existence alongside industrialized production and how can they be adopted to make industrial production more sustainable? In Mexico I worked with social enterprise Anudando to turn waste plastic bags into beautiful hand-woven textiles, and in Japan I worked at KYOTO Design-Lab of Kyoto Institute of Technology (KIT) with silk weavers to take their fabrics out of traditional contexts and give the material new structural properties and use contexts. Both projects will be shown side by side during Dutch Design Week (Oct. 21-29) at '5 years Driving Dutch Design & Hotspots' by Van Eijk & Van der Lubbe. The exhibition is open daily from 11:00-18:00. I will be present to talk about my work on Saturday October 28 between 11:00-14:30. Address: Veemgebouw, 3rd floor Torenallee 80 5617 BE Eindhoven Comments are closed.
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