Flax Project - Linen Damast 2016
The Flax project was
initiated by a commission from Thomas Eyck, but this was just the beginning of
what was to become a substantial and ongoing project for Meindertsma. Meindertsma
discovered that flax was still grown by farmers in the coastal area that runs from
Normandy in France, via Belgium and Zeeland in the Netherlands and some in the
Felvopolder region, where the climate is wet and relatively warm because of the
gulf stream. Ninety percent of this European-grown flax is exported to China where
linen yarns and fabric are made from it. Meindertsma embarked on a project to investigate if locally-produced flax could
again become a commodity.
In 2012 Meindertsma
purchased the entire flax harvest of Gert-Jan van Dongen: 10,000 kilos of fibre. Her ambition was to
produce a commercial collection from it. She spun the fibre into yarn fine
enough to make table linen, and designed a collection of teatowels, napkins and
a tablecloth. Meindertsma took the topography for the flax fields themselves as
inspiration for a Damask pattern; photographing the fields from a hot air
balloon and turning the grid-like images
of the Flevopolder region into a woven teatowel.
For the complete project and all films: flaxproject.com
CREDITS:
Van de Bilt zaden en vlas,
Textilelab, Gert-Jan van Dongen
