Pascale Gatzen speaks on behalf of The Linen Project during a panel discussion hosted by Ellen van den Adel as part of this Reflow event at Pakhuis de Zwijger in Amsterdam. The programme posed the question: “Are biobased materials such as hemp, flax fibre, locally produced linen and organic cotton a solution for the polluting practices of the textile industry? We used these materials in the past, but synthetic materials such as polyester and elastane have certainly gained the upper hand in fast fashion. Can we go back to high-quality, biobased clothing, which is also easy to recycle?”

Panel discussion held in Dutch. Video courtesy of Pakhuis de Zwijger. This event was originally livecast on November 11 2021.

Under the curation of Loes Schepens, Linen Steward 2020, gallery Paper Art & Design in the Hague opened its doors to the public exhibition Flax!/Vlas! from 16 October 2021 to 8 January 2022. A handful of makers translated their flax harvest and experiences as Linen Stewards of 2020 into handmade objects, including fibres spun into linen yarn, and paper made from the shorter fibres. The unique textiles, objects and artworks are created with great care for the material, originating from the conditions and inspiration that nature provided on the field.

Participating Linen Stewards of 2020 included Henrike Gootjes, Maaike Gottschal, Hans Hutting, Heleen Klopper, Kelly Konings, Marieke van Mieghem, Loes Schepens, and the Collective Garment makers. A short documentary on traditional flax processing commissioned by Crafts Council Nederland and filmed by Theodorus Johannus was also on view during the exhibition.

Members of the public had the opportunity to get acquainted with the Linen Stewards and their flax journey during Dutch Design Week 2021 – participating Linen Stewards were on-site at Atelier NL to share their experiences alongside various material outcomes of the Shared Stewardship initiative during the exhibition The Linen Project / The Linen Stewards presented by Crafts Council Nederland.

Featuring work by Henrike Gootjes, Maaike Gottschal, Hans Hutting, Heleen Klopper in collaboration with Sjaak Hullekes and Sebastiaan Kramer, Kelly Konings, Marieke van Mieghem, and Loes Schepens. The exhibition also gave brief insight into the tradition of flax and linen in the Netherlands and the further activities of the Linen Project.

Exhibition design by Studio Jeroen van Veluw. Photograph by Eduard van Wijk for Crafts Council Nederland and The Linen Project.

In the online talk Ancient and Modern & Farm to Fabric, hosted by Polly Leonard of Selvedge Magazine, UK, Pascale Gatzen speaks on behalf of the Linen Project about the Shared Stewardship initiative and growing and producing local linen in the Netherlands, considering the inherent connections between community, fibre and agriculture.

Talk held in English. This segment of the annual Selvedge World Fair was hosted online on September 4 2021. Recordings will be made available to view shortly.

During the 8th International Degrowth Conference in The Hague, Linen Stewards Pascale Gatzen, Marieke van Mieghem, Ellen Rooijakkers, Carolien Evers and Henrike Gootjes facilitated two 3-hour weaving-based workshops held on location at artist-run project space Quartair.

In addition to sharing their weaving knowledge with participants during the workshops, the Linen Stewards gave insight into their experiences of the Shared Stewardship community initiative, while working on their collective garment made from the flax cultivated and harvested by the stewardship in 2020. Participants were invited to work on a small weaving of his/her/their own, with the Linen Stewards supporting them in learning how to make textiles from everyday materials.

This edition of the four-day conference – exploring a variety of approaches to degrowth, with the central theme of Caring Communities for Radical Change – took place in August 2021.

Linen Steward Marieke van Mieghem spoke to Fashion Design Festival Arnhem about her relationship with natural raw materials and how they inform her textile work. In this short video, drawing on the central theme of ‘purpose’, Marieke shares her insights into the greater potential of local linen and the importance of connection, exchange and experiment in a design process, and how this is activated within the Linen Project and the Shared Stewardship initiative.

Interview held in Dutch. Video for FDFA’21: Purpose by Perplex Motion. The 2021 festival programme of online and offline events explored meaning and fashion based on ten dimensions, including material resources.

Makers in Beeld: Het ambacht van nu (Makers in View: The craft of now) at the Netherlands Open Air Museum, Arnhem, explores the proposition that “craftspeople, also called Makers, are masters of problem-solving and can contribute valuable perspectives on contemporary challenges, such as sustainability.” Kelly Konings, Linen Steward of 2020, contributed textile work resulting from her stewardship experience to the exhibition; with a background in fashion, she places a specific focus on acknowledging the human hands involved in textile production. The exhibition is currently on view on-site in the Wagenhal.

How can flax be a resource in a biocircular economy? How does the local production of a textile fibre for a local market work in the Netherlands? During this BlueCity Lab Fibre Club meet-up, Pascale Gatzen spoke with hosts Nienke Binnendijk and Arie Hooimeijer about how the Linen Project investigates and works towards reactivating a strong economic and ecological basis for small-scale local flax cultivation and linen production. They were joined by David Kasse of Vlas & Hennep.NL, who shared insight into the current flax production chain from his broad knowledge of this sector.

View the recap of Fibre Club: Flax, from ground to grave by BlueCity Lab. Text in English. This event was broadcast live online from BlueCity Lab, Rotterdam, on April 29 2021.

This webinar hosted by Northern California Fibreshed member Chico Flax features a panel of experts from the United States, Canada, and Europe who are working to build viable regional flax-to-linen industries. Speakers include small farmers undertaking flax production in collaboration with local universities, yarn manufacturers, and designers; amongst them are Pascale Gatzen, on behalf of The Linen Project, and Patricia Bishop, of TapRoot Fibre in Nova Scotia and a member of our wider research community.

The following topics are addressed: overcoming growing and production challenges, changing from hand processing to mechanical small-scale mini-mills to provide locally sourced fibres, seed production to meet the demands of a growing small-scale flax industry, and innovative partnerships working toward reestablishing a regionally based linen industry.

View the full programme of speakers hosted by Chico Flax. Conversations are held in English. The webinar was originally held on January 28 2021.

Pascale Gatzen joins local designer and Linen Steward 2020 Sjaak Hullekes in conversation for Renew the System – local values and history. In this segment, Sjaak visits various organisations that aim to change the fashion system and society, starting with local resources.

During their meeting at the Linen Stewards’ flaxshed, Pascale shares insight into how the activities of The Linen Project contribute to retaining the liveliness of haptic knowledge and reinstating a local textile industry; the role of agriculture, embodied awareness through learning by doing, community, and connection. Participating in the subsequent livestream panel conversation are Annemieke Koster of Enschede Textielstad and Jolanda Buts of Studio Ryn.

Conversations are held in Dutch. The Renew the System series is a collaboration by Culture.Fashion and Arnhem-based brand Hul le Kes. This live-streamed event was held on January 15 2021 and remains available to view online.

In this webinar for the inaugural World Hope Forum, Pascale Gatzen speaks about working in collectivity, agency, and taking back the economy. Relating her experiences in fashion design and education, engaging craft, farm to fibre and worker cooperatives with Friends of Light, extending to The Linen Project and the Shared Stewardship initiative, addressing the development of small-scale processing facilities and the empowering potential of co-design processes. Presentation held in English.

The World Hope Forum is an initiative founded by Lidewij Edelkoort and Philip Fimmano, as a holistic global platform for the exchange and expansion of knowledge. This first edition, hosted in the Netherlands by Petra Janssen, took place online during Dutch Design Week 2020.

The Linen Project and the Linen Stewards are excited to be included in the online group exhibition HOW&WOW Linen, presented by Crafts Council Nederland during Dutch Design Week 2020.

HOW&WOW Linen follows the process from flaxseed to linen thread and showcases contemporary approaches to linen and flax fibre applications and traditions, as explored by a diverse group of makers and do-ers. Accompanying video presentations feature inspiring insights from the linen stewards as well as our cultivation supervisor Karlijn Bokhorst and further members of the Linen Project community.

Exhibition content in English and in Dutch. The online exhibition remains available to view via Crafts Council Nederland

During this first online Linen Meet-Up in 2020, Anna Wetzel, an affiliated researcher for The Linen Project, shared the experience of her two-week stay at TapRoot Farms in Nova Scotia, owned and run by Patricia Bishop and Josh Oulten. Anna’s visit focused on the local production and processing of flax, as TapRoot Fibre Lab (a subsidiary of TapRoot Farms) has made significant steps towards this goal.

Anna addressed the craft of spinning short line flax at TapRoot Fibre Lab, the difficulties and challenges of a full (independent) production cycle and the local and international connections – including weavers, engineers and researchers – that TapRoot brings together.

Read about Anna’s visit to TapRoot Farms. The live online presentation and question and answer session took place on April 23 2020.

An insight into the activities of The Linen Project, in conversation with The Linen Project co-initiator Pascale Gatzen and biodynamic farmer André Jurrius of Ekoboerderij De Lingehof. Together, they reflected on the experience and potential of growing small-scale local flax in Gelderland, and what it means to work in community with nature and with each other.

This live online meet-up took place on October 21 2020 as part of the HOW&WOW Linen talks, coinciding with the launch of the online group exhibition HOW&WOW Linen presented by Crafts Council Nederland during Dutch Design Week 2020.