weaving Voices 01.04.2025 issuu - Flipbook - Page 66
This idea is similar to the previous juxtaposition of the dynamic
tension needed between exploration and structure in research. To
explore unknown possibilities, one needs both freedom as well as
structure. In “Chapter 1440: The Smooth and the Striated,” Deluze
and Guattari mention that Plato used the model of weaving as the
paradigm for the art of governing people, because this technique
requires a clear frame and calculated control. To become a wellfunctioning community, one needs a structure for communal
understanding and mutual ethics, and guidelines to co-exist and
work together effectively. However, too many predetermined rules
eliminate the needs of individuals to express themselves freely and
the space for exploring the unknown that allows new insights and
communal transformation.
Considering the metaphorical loom as a working structure
for collective artistic research, we can question how closely
our approaches resemble an actual loom. Our frame involved
agreements to meet multiple times over a period of two and a half
years, sharing our practices and workspaces, to provide a structure
for experimentation. However, the experiment itself resembles more
of a felting or knotting practice – an entanglement of practices
and stories rather than following a clear predetermined pattern. Or
perhaps we can say that we took on a freer weave approach, leaving
the ultimate pattern of our carpet open for play.
There is another element to our structure; due to the nomadic nature
of our project, exploring each other’s spaces, our loom needed to fit
in a suitcase. Instead of a singular fixed classroom space, we moved
within each other’s personal work and living spaces. Allowing both
unknown and informed actions shifted the more traditional hierarchal
teaching system based on the principle that ‘I know, and you learn’
to a more round table approach designed to open up discussion and
facilitate shared experience. For us, this round table was set-up in
multiple places across Europe – often dressed with cookies and tea
–, where different voices sat beside each other and facilitated ‘I know
and don’t know, you know and don’t know, therefore, we all learn’.
The cosy space in which to place the loom
a comfortable setting to get to know each other
If the aim of a structure in community-art endeavours is to nurture
co-creation, it’s imperative to shift from traditional knowledgeproducing classrooms to communal work and living spaces. It is
through mundane activities that we foster familiarity towards each
other and create a comfortable place in which we can get to know
and learn from each other. This proved essential. Sharing ordinary
tasks like cooking, eating, and cleaning with strangers cultivates a
relaxed interaction, providing shared time where there’s no ‘special’
agenda, and no need for individuals to prove themselves. These
interactions, in turn, foster trust – a vital thread in our communal
carpet – laying the foundation for individuals to feel safe. Since
personal stories, threads, aren’t always easy and colourful, a
space where we can express and receive each other’s insecurities,
vulnerabilities and questions becomes crucial. To weave our stories
together successfully, a cosy space for the loom is needed, as
exploring unknown territories requires trust and bravery.
Rosa Smits and I initiated a community-art project called Weaving
Voices: Slotervaart in Transition.106 This project took shape during a
one-and-a-half-month residency at Bureau Postjesweg, an art space
dedicated to community-art projects in Slotervaart, a suburb of
Amsterdam, serving as the location for our Weaving Voices workshop
week. Throughout the residency, we collected stories documenting
the impact of gentrification on both new and long-term residents of
the neighbourhood. This was achieved through communal weaving
sessions and story-sharing events called Voices of Slotervaart, which
were recorded on audio. Later we implemented the audio stories in
a weave we collectively made with residents on a construction fence.
Throughout the course of the project, we explored the significance
of creating comfortable spaces within community-art endeavours.
Our approach involved transforming Bureau Postjesweg into a warm
and inviting weave and dye studio, essentially functioning as a
community living room for the neighbourhood. The atmosphere of
the space played a pivotal role in facilitating the sharing of stories.
106 Weaving Voices Slotervaart in Transitie (2023) Nina van Hartskamp. Available at: https://ninavanhartskamp.
com/weaving-voices-slotervaart-in-transitie/ [Accessed 2 Jul. 2024].
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