We welcome the public to experiment and engage with textile crafts, while sharing knowledge, stories, skills, and time. We aim to expand on the potential of textile practices by relating them to wider themes such as tradition, ecology, ethnography, and personal experiences and by inviting different artists/practitioners to collaborate to host events and workshops. We embrace textile as a metaphor for weaving, breaking, and repairing social fabric.
The first programme took place in June and July 2024 across different locations in Amsterdam and featured the projects of 13 artists and practioners with a relation to textile. Over five events there were workshops, performances, and readings that expanded on the topic of textile while weaving in other practices relating to tradition, preservation, ecology, and technology. The featured artists/practioners were: Lieke Wouters, Matilda Kenttä, Suzanne Bernhardt, Sasha Van Aalst, Romy Day Winkel, Meghan Clarke, Ellen Yiu, Miriam Del Seppia, Masha Maroz, Elena Braida, Inês Quierós, Samira Vogel and Julina Vanille Bezold. The events took place at De Steek, Fruittuin van West, Kas Keerweer, Zone2source, I can change the world with my two hands (community garden). This programme was kindly supported by Amsterdam Fonds voor de Kunst and Stichting Stokroos.
The 2025 programme centred around the topics of mending, healing, and cyclical ways of thinking and encouraged holistic ways of seeing/approaching our surroundings. The featured artists/practitioners were: Limo Hair, Sophie de Serière, Maria Blaisse, Febe Verelst, Élise Ory, Selina Ben, Sam Bennett, Sanne Freijdag, Anya Minervina, Lili Huston-Herterich, Antonella Fittipaldi, Sol Marinucci, Alicia Minnaard, Bronwen Jones, Dasha Golova, Élise Ory, and Emmeline de Mooij . The events took place at the studio of Maria Blaisse, Villa Buitenlust, Dijktheater, Lapland, Hartwig Proxy. This programme was kindly supported by Amsterdam Fonds voor de Kunst and Hartwig Proxy.
We have also done presentations and workshops at Shimmer (Rotterdam), De Appel Teenage Curators Programme, and ArtEZ Critical Fashion department (Arnhem).
The 2026 programme is based around reimagining seasonal celebrations and proposing new traditions through social gatherings that connect us to cyclical processes and ways of marking time. For up to date information on our programme, subscribe to our newsletter here or follow us on instagram here.
Contact us at textile.initiative@gmail.com
Bronwen Jones & Dasha Golova