Melanie Bomans, coordinator for The Linen Project in 2019-2022, joined Cassie Quinn of CQ studio and moderator Giulia Bellinetti of Future Materials Lab in conversation for Future Materials Encounter #5 at the Jan van Eyck Academie. Sharing perspectives from the Netherlands and from Ireland, they discussed some of the stories nested in flax fibres – stories of cultural heritage and labour, of bodies enmeshed in materials such as flax, of the resistance of nature to technology, and others – going on to open the dialogue to the attending audience. 

The exchange involved insight into The Linen Project’s aims to reactivate the economic viability of small-scale local flax cultivation and linen production in the Netherlands, including activities promoting the inherent connections between (cultural) heritage, education, agriculture, design, crafts, and the economy, through a commoning approach. 

Read more about this Future Materials Encounter. Programme in English. A recording of the Inflaxuation conversation is planned for release in an upcoming Future Materials Bank entry about The Linen Project. The live talk originally took place at the Jan van Eyck Academie in Maastricht during the Open Studios 2022 preview day on June 23 2022.