Public life has shut down due to the Coronavirus crisis. The present is fluid: time seems to be defined only by the latest news about the global pandemic that has radically changed our lives. The future remains therefore uncertain: we mark our days in lockdown while we collectively hope we may go back to normality and to a more social life as soon as possible.
Yet there is one question that insistently buzzes in our minds - will life be the same if and when the crisis is over? Artist Claudy Jongstra is asking herself the same question, but she is also wondering if we can try and redesign the relationship between human beings and nature and she is providing some answers through her new work.
A passionate advocate of sustainability with an eye for the conservation of biodiversity, the award winning textile artist and designer settled in 2001 in the village of Spannum, in Friesland, two hours from Amsterdam. Here she breeds her own flock of rare Drenthe Heath heritage sheep, keeps bees and designs felt pieces made in collaboration with her team that comprises felters and dyers. As an artist she breathes new life into old crafts, such as weaving and felting wool. All materials are produced locally and sustainably, in close connection with the surrounding communities, and her textiles have also been integrated into fashion designs including Viktor & Rolf's Haute Couture Autumn/Winter 19 and Martin Margiela's Artisanal A/W 2018-19 collections.
In 2018 the Museum De Lakenhal in Leiden and Claudy Jongstra entered into a long-term partnership, something very apt as the institution and the artist share a passion for textiles. One section of the museum's permanent collection is indeed entitled "Seven Centuries of Leiden Cloth" and Jongstra also designed a textile for the museum, a woolen fabric that is sold by the meter in the museum shop.
The museum scheduled a major solo exhibition for the Autumn of 2020 (the opening date will be announced later on) focused on Jongstra (and in collaboration with curator Nicole Roepers and guest curator Suzanne Oxenaar) that should occupy a new wing of the restored and expanded building. The event will include a new monumental installation entitled "Nine".
As most museums, including the De Lakenhal, are currently closed because of Coronavirus, the artist didn't know if she may have found a suitable workspace to develop her new 250 square meter installation. Luckily, the Fries Museum came to her rescue: even though also this institution is closed, it offered Jongstra the chance to work in its reception hall in the coming weeks. Jongstra has therefore set up a temporary studio there until the institution opens again.
In this way the artist can still work and the museum will contribute to the realization of new art, and, though visitors may not be able to see the artist at work, we will all be able to follow the process via social media platforms and ponder in this way about materials, resources and production systems. "For me, a holistic approach is of fundamental importance. In my work, regenerative agriculture, local materials and the preservation of old knowledge are central, "Jongstra states in a press release. "In this time of the Coronavirus crisis, this appears to be even more relevant and important than before. Now global supply chains are under current constraints, we are noticing the benefits of protecting local resources and reviving regional production systems. "
Temporarily converting a museum into an artist's workshop isn't obviously possible for most museums (for safe and safety reasons, insurance and so on), yet it remains an intriguing idea that may help us redesigning and reinventing some cultural spaces in the future. "Jongstra demonstrates that the connection with the past can pave the way to the future", Meta Knol, director of Museum De Lakenhal, states. "For us as a museum, this is a positive and inspiring example which we would like to share with as many others as possible."
Image credits in this post
Photographs by David Vroom
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