Pigeon Service 2015
The Pigeon Service project was originally made for the new Texture Museum in Kortrijk; a museum that chronicles the history of flax in that region. The commission was to create a tapestry in collaboration with Josvanneste; a specialist in tapestry tufting and a yarn spinning company. The history of the museum building itself inspired Meindertsma: The building was originally a warehouse for linen destined for Ireland but during World War One it housed a different kind of stock; pigeons. The German occupational forces held thousands of birds suspected of being used as carriers – spy pigeons essentially – here.
Meindertsma linked these two histories by producing a collection of over 300 textile pigeons. These were tufted with different kinds of linen yarns and hand sewn by the museums volunteers as a permanent installation across the entire museum. To complete the project a small cabinet was made to illustrate the route that the linen yarns took to be made; some were spun locally, whilst some travelled to China and India. The pattern of the pigeons is now sold as a souvenir at the Texture Museum, with a small note hidden in the label on its tail.
Pigeon Service is in the collection of thomas eyck.
COMMISSIONED BY: Texture Museum of Flax and River Lys
SPECIAL CREDITS: Jos Vanneste, Stoffenhuis Langhorst, Sylvie De Coster and all volunteers at Texture
