Saturday, November 10, 2012

Zijdelings (Tilburg, The Netherlands)
Resource Review

Marie-Therese Wisniowski

Introduction
I have been in contact with Karina van Vught for sometime about the possibility of giving a demonstration on my MultiSperse Dye Sublimation (MSDS) and/or Low Relief Screen Printing (LRSP) techniques at Zijdelings: Center for Textile and Surface Design in Tilburg, The Netherlands.

Town Square at Tilburg (The Netherlands).

My husband had business in Tilburg and so this was an opportunity to travel with him, and do a little work in the city and then catch up with some of my artist friends in the Netherlands - namely, Els van Baarle and Cherilyn Martin.

Els van Baarle (left) and Cherilyn Martin (right) in Els’ studio at Dreischor.

With a lot of encouragement from Karina, we settled on a talk about my art and art practice, as well as giving a demonstration of my MSDS technique to an enthusiastic gathering of ten cloth artists, some of whom had travelled from afar in order to participate. Karina was a delight to work with and so setting up my talk and demonstration was a breeze.

Karina (right) and myself (left) at Zijdelings.

If you are thinking of travelling to Tilburg, you must visit the Textile Museum and Zijdelings. Both are located within a five minute walk from the each other and so are within easy reach.

Zijdelings not only puts on workshops, demonstrations and talks etc. but also sells a range of products and art wearables. If you coincide your visit with an event at Zijdelings it will not only add spice to your holiday in Tilburg but moreover deliver an enjoyable artistic experience.

Impressive entrance to Zijdelings.
93A Kapelstraat, Tilburg
, The Netherlands.

There is no better way to understand the Dutch culture than by participating in artistic events that the Dutch attend. You quickly learn about the similarities and differences between your culture and theirs.

Aleid te Grootenhuis (left), Maria Verboom (middle) and Janine Visser (right).
Some of the participants at Zijdelings, who were there for my talk and demonstration - holding tear sheets of one of my articles on MSDS.

Moreover, as most Dutch speak excellent English, for English-speaking travellers the language barrier is non-existent. Note: you don’t need to bring tools or cloths to the workshop, since most items can be sourced from Zijdelings itself. Email Karina for more details about her future program - Karina’s email.


Zijdelings
The word “Zijdelings” in Dutch possesses a nuance meaning. It is literally translated as “sideways” or “sidelong” or “indirect” and so in the context of an art studio it is an oblique reference rather than a direct reference to art per se; that is, you can think of it in terms of a nuance or sideways shift as is the case when you are making art rather than selling art etc.

Karina van Vught founded Zijdelings in 1986. It began by focusing on handpainting on silk, and in doing so the studio hosted courses and workshops in that area. It sold silks and silk paints in order to supplement the workshop activity. Not surprisingly Karina herself has a very impressive curriculum vitae as a textile artist focusing mainly on silk painting and shibori.

In January of 2002 Zijdelings moved to its present location and so Karina had a working relationship with the Textile Museum in Tilburg (see future blog) in order to organize workshops, lectures, and exhibitions for the Museum as well as gaining access to the digital equipment of the Museum's TextileLab for her students. In January of 2012 the Museum changed its direction and so Zijdelings no longer uses the Museum’s facilities.

Over the years Zijdelings has progressed and widened its brief to include cloth techniques associated with a range of textiles (both natural and synthetic fabrics as well as mixed media) concomitant with surface design structures. The studio has excellent facilities and so can cater for a large range of different types of classes and workshops covering all aspects of textile and surface design.

A large number of trestles that are height adjustable and so are ideal for classes/workshops and demonstrations etc.

Due to her general interest in textile and surface design, it is not surprising that Karina is the European representative of the Surface Design Association(SDA) and so was responsible for creating and maintaining the Surface Design Association's Europe blogspot.

A large array of textiles and textile related materials are available for purchase from Zijdelings.

Each season Zijdelings offers a large variety of workshops that are taught by internationally renowned teachers. For example, recent workshops were given by Cherilyn Martin (The Netherlands/UK), Cas Holmes (UK) and Elin Noble (USA) – just to mention a few!

The techniques employed in the workshops are extensive and varied, covering such areas as fabric painting, screenprinting, batik, dyeing (using natural and synthetic dyes), transfer printing, shibori, felting, fulling, punching, mixed media, (art) quilting and embroidery etc. The workshops are held at Zijdelings because of the excellent infrastructure that is available in the studio to the tutors and students alike.

Textiles, wearables, books, and dvds – Zijdelings has it all!

Zijdelings has a specialist (web)shop where you can order fabrics, scarves, fibers, dyes, paints, books and dvd's etc.

Disclaimer: Marie-Therese Wisniowski, Art Quill Studio, and Art Quill & Co have no financial interest in Zijdelings.

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