Brussels took on its piece of the I, CULTURE puzzle at the prestigious BOZAR centre on the 21st of July, 2011
The Brussels leg of the I, CULTURE tour kicked off workshops for volunteers (18-21st of July) at the Bozar gallery's Horta Hall. Brussels is one of twelve capital cities to host the I, CULTURE Contemporary Craft Workshop - the caravan of sewing machines, fabrics and embellishments has come to the Belgian capital straight from Madrid. Volunteers and guests come together to create their own crafts projects and to complete the Belgian square of the I, CULTURE patchwork puzzle. Each square features local designs and artistry and accompanying workshops explore the role and nature of hand-made products and traditional crafts in contemporary society.
IAM correspondent Kasia Zacharska shared her impressions of the I, CULTURE event in Brussels:
I, CULTURE was held in Brussels on the 21st of July - a national holiday. The holiday parade floated past the BOZAR space, which was filled with sewing machines, accessories, buttons, lace, ribbons and the completed projects of volunteers from the Tapis Plain organisation and their guests, who included none other than the First Lady of Abu Dhabi Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Al Ketbi. Participants also voted in a poll on which craft was likely to survive the test of time. The most popular answer - baker.
The BOZAR gallery is currently hosting the "Power of Fantasy. Modern and Contemporary Art from Poland" exhibition. Artist Maciej Kuraka's "Fifty fifty" installation, which is partly based on the form and function of a sewing machine.
I, CULTURE's driving force is fashion designer and artist Monika Jakubiak and her company, Soulstitch. Jakubiak is now on a tour of Europe and Asia – the project launched in Warsaw in May and travels 12 capital cities. At each stop, groups of volunteers and guests come together to discuss the role of crafts and create their own part of the I, CULTURE puzzle.
The workshops provide a chance to learn how to sew and enable participants to create any kind of a tailored item they dream of. People are also invited to bring in old pieces of clothing from their wardrobes and re-adapt and recycle them into new items, such as accesories and decorative appliques. Participants can experience the magical moment when a work of art suddenly emerges from different emotions, memories and reflections. Tailoring is a craft that requires no translation, it's a universal and timeless means of communication.
I, CULTURE also encourages each person to define their individual relation to culture. Partcipants gain an awareness of the amount of work and effort that goes into the making of various objects of everyday use. Works created as part of I, CULTURE illustrate attempts at answering the following questions:
What is and what is not craft? Who creates culture? Do I also create it? What is important in a creative experience?
I, CULTURE Contemporary Crafts: Brussels Programme
Workshops
Mend: don't throw clothes away, mend and recycle them, and give each one of them a new and unique context
Street Poll
Participants vote which craft is going to survive the longest
Craftsmanship Presentation
In each capital craftsmen specific to the city are invited to present their work. The Brussels edition of I, CULTURE will host weavers and a craftsman specialising in fabric mending. The previous editions hosted an upholsterer (Warsaw), a hat maker (London) and a silkscreen print specialist (Madrid).
Volunteer Team's Presentation
Monika Jakubiak assigns research tasks to groups of volunteers. In preparing for the workshop sessions, young people visit studios of craftsmen they choose themselves and investigate the secrets of their skill. Volunteers not only get to acquaint themselves with the artistry of their craft but are also immersed in a completely exotic world of tools, materials and the workshop specific to the given craft. These are often meetings with people who have chosen life-time commitment to their jobs, and for whom the only way to transmit their knowledge and skill is through direct contact with another person. All this amounts to a rather ethereal character of the volunteers' experience. The value of this experience lies in the encounter and all the emotions, thoughts and reflections that result from it.
Also see: Cobra TV interview with Monika Jakubiak
I, CULTURE Puzzle
Participants put all their works together to form a piece of the I, CULTURE puzzle logo
Polish "Łucznik" brand sewing machines are used during the workshops
BOZAR ART CENTRE
Bozar is a unique Belgian artistic centre with a mission. Encouraging active participation and inspiring an awareness of culture, I, CULTURE Contemporary Crafts project seems an initiative tailored just for Bozar.
Paul Dujardin, General Director of Bozar speaks of the centre:
Creativity, quality, and artistic diversity have been at the heart of the Centre’s mission since its foundation. But for art not to be something abstract and distant, for it to be truly part of the “culture” of a society – and particularly in a city as variegated and international as Brussels – the public must be able to experience it in a way that is both natural and lively. Art and people must find and recognise each other, must interact with and enrich each other. For the greater happiness of all.
Our commitment, accordingly, is not only to the provision of a range of artistic activities, but also to achieving a “total experience”. (...) when it comes to art, “total experiences” are the most intense and the most precious
Brussels is the fourth stop of I, CULTURE Contemporary Crafts Project tour after London, Paris and Madrid. The next capital hosting the project after Brussels on the 5th of August is Berlin.
Date: 18th-21st of July, 2011
Venue: BOZAR (Horta Hall)
Organised by: Adam Mickiewicz Institute
I, CULTURE is a Flagship Project of the Polish Presidency of the EU Council. For more information on the project, see: I, CULTURE
Source: Adam Mickiewicz Institute
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