The I, CULTURE Contemporary Crafts Project arrived at the Matadero Madrid centre for the third installment of Monika Jakubiak's contemporary craft project
Perfect beach weather didn't stop 800 craft lovers from participating in the workshops. Matadero Art Centre hosted guests in accordance with the Mediterrenean schedule - from 8pm until midnight. Most of the Spanish volunteers were already experienced in fashion design and tailoring. A team of five elderly women and Hola Per Que collective were part of the team, and Tete Cafe Costura (a Madrid cafe which offers sewing machines for hourly use) also had took part in the evening.
Formerly a slaughterhouse, Matadero (a large complex of buildings, housing a cinema, theatre and residence space for artists) is located outside of Madrid's centre. Thus, in addition to 'professional' volunteers, partcipants were hardly chance passers-by, and all those who decided to come stayed for many hours and engaged themselves seriously. The night's hit were eco-bags, with an inscription especially designed for the occasion, spelling out "I,-name of participant-CULTURE". Bags were decorated with silk-screen prints on one side and a patchwork on the other. Various pieces sewn up on Friday night composed the lower left square of the I, CULTURE puzzle. The results of Madrid's poll point to tailoring as the craft with best chances of survival.
The initiative has come together in partnership with design maven Monika Jakubiak and her company, Soulstitch. Jakubiak is on a tour of Europe and Asia - a tour which begun in Warsaw in May and travels 12 capital cities with18 sewing machines and tons of fabric and materials. Volunteers and guests come together to create their own part of the I, CULTURE puzzle.
Volunteers discuss the role of traditional crafts in the digital age (Why do we buy new shirts and sweaters instead of going to a tailor? Where do our clothes come from and why?) sharing their thoughts and predictions as to which crafts will remain and threading together an informal history of craftsmanship, along with ideas on how to illustrate their own independent designs. Each volunteer receives a sewing machine and a quick guide to sewing skills and techniques from Ms. Jakubiak herself, ranging from 'treadle' to 'appliqué'.
In an interview with the ABC Spanish news network (Poland Puts the Dot on Madrid's "I"), project founder Monika Jakubiak explained, "This is a very democratic form of participation because the ones engaged are regular street people." Twenty volunteers were on site, loaded with 250 kilos of fabric, helping guests to work on their own sewing projects and to create the Madrid square of the I, CULTURE puzzle. Jakubiak also noted that "it is essential that each local installment of the project has a link with local artisans. People who get involved get rid of their fear of culture, which is in fact nothing other than what they do themselves (...) Today everything is 'i', from the iBook to the iPhone, and bonds with family and community have been lost. We seem to miss out on sharing knowledge on how to manage a household, for example, things that distinguish us as human beings". Jakubiak claims that artisans are disappearing from the "i" world. She has taken on the task of defending cratsmanship, encouraging people to buy hand-made products rather than low-quality, mass produced goods. "With this initiative we bring together different kinds of expertise in a larger space, in the street talking to people, asking about the role of crafts in the world today," Jakubiak explained.
Matadero Madrid is a living, changing space which supports creative processes, participatory artistic training and an ongoing dialogue between the arts. It was created with the thought of inciting reflection on our contemporary socio-cultural environment. Matadero backs processes which construct the culture of today and tomorrow. Set in one of the most important industrial architecture sites of early 20th century Madrid, it aims to become the city’s biggest centre for contemporary creation. The institution is an initiative of Madrid Council’s Department of the Arts, in collaboration with other public and private entities. Given its location, Matadero Madrid extends the Recoletos-Prado cultural axis to Legazpi Square, moving the centre of Madrid further out towards the vicinity of the River Manzanares.
Madrid is the third stop of I, CULTURE Contemporary Crafts Project tour after London and Paris. The next capital hosting the project after Madrid on the 18th of July is Brussels.
For more information on the Matadero Madrid Centre, see: www.mataderomadrid.org
Date: 16th and 17th of July, 2011
Venue: Matadero Madrid
Organised by: Matadero Madrid, Soulstitch, Adam Mickiewicz Institute
Project cofinanced by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland.
I, CULTURE is a Flagship Project of the Polish Presidency of the EU Council. For more information, see: I, CULTURE.