From more than 60 international applications for the TextielLab’s new Advanced Textile Program, six were selected this year. Leonie Burkhardt, Emma Huffman, Marcos Kueh, Riikka Peltola, Jojo Shone and Emma Terweduwe joined the programme in September. After four weeks of online meetings with designers, artists and leaders from the textile industry, the group worked live in the lab for two weeks in October. Guided by the product developers, they explored their fascination for weaving and knitting together. The theme was ‘Shades of Sustainability’, but the group could choose how they interpreted this. Although the excellence programme is now finished, the participants all plan to continue the experiments they started in the lab.

Must-see film
A professional filmmaker recorded the participants’ development process: from woven mycelium structures that are buried in the ground in a dialogue with nature to an examination of plastic’s bad reputation. The film is a must-see if you are interested in participating in the next excellence programme – applications open in the spring. “This is a follow-up to the student programmes we offer and is intended for budding art and design professionals,” says project leader Michelle Baggerman. “Our aim is to boost their careers by connecting them to each other and to our network.”

Collaborative process
The ten-week programme is designed as an open collaborative process in which knowledge is continuously exchanged. This produces very different results than if you work individually in the lab. “You can learn a lot by looking at experiments and outcomes together,” says Baggerman. “My hope is that the programme lays the foundation for a fertile ecosystem of textile professionals working together. I hope to see the participants again in a few years’ time developing a follow-up project in the lab, or even as the new masters sharing their knowledge in the excellence programme.”

Thijs van Gasteren made a film about the six participants’ research process.