“Land der Flunen – Threads of the past”

Textile, public art in Neukirchen-Vluyn – DE
The exhibition will be visible until September 2021
Curator: Ariane Hackstein
Artists: Jan Gerling, Jens J. Meyer, Edgardo Madanes, Karin van der Molen and Elena Redaelli.

A group of international artists have been invited to create artworks in response to the topics of water and textile industry, crucial for the development of ​​Neukirchen-Vluyn, a town in the district of Wesel, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

“Land der Flunen” (originally scheduled to take place in 2020) had to be postponed due to the pandemic and it is finally accessible in the public space.

The curator, art historian Ariane Hackstein from Essen, explains the concept behind the exhibition:

“The artists looked at Neukirchen-Vluyn’s history and landscape as foreigners. The unbiased view resulted in great designs that deal with regional, social and ecological aspects of the water landscape as well as the past and present of the textile industry.”

Jan Gerling and Jens J. Meyer from Essen, Edgardo Madanes from Buenos Aires, the Dutch artist Karin van der Molen and Elena Redaelli from Italy; have chosen places like Kendel and Kuhlen, the park in front of the evangelical church in Vluyn and the former Niederberg mine for their artistic interventions.

Karin van der Molen ,“New threads-new weaving”, photo credit Karin van der Molen

Karin van der Molen “New threads-new weaving”

The artist created her installation in Plankendickskendel, on the green bank on the riverside.

A woven structure of colourful pipes interlaces in space and it is reflected, upside down, by the river waters. A poetic image, representing the basic pattern of weaving, is expanding in unexpected directions.

With her work “New Fabric”, the Dutch artist links back to the city’s textile past. She takes a close look at woven linen threads, scaling up the basic pattern of cloth construction and changing its concept. She creates a symbolic image that speaks of an open and diverse society.

“Nowadays the social fabric has become looser. The traditional colours white, black and blue have been replaced by other (colourful) ones. Textiles themselves, their purpose and use have changed and the fabric of urban society has also changed. It’s less traditional and more open to change.”

“The social, cultural and financial network that bounds the city has made a place for new threads, looser, digital and wilder perhaps. The threads move as energized veins, discovering new ways, towards a new ground, still connected to the old”.

Jens J. Meyer, “Arch bridge”, photo credit Jens J. Meyer

Jens J. Meyer,  “Arch bridge” 

The artist created her installation in Plankendickskendel, on the green bank on the riverside.

A woven structure of colourful pipes interlaces in space and it is reflected, upside down, by the river waters. A poetic image, representing the basic pattern of weaving, is expanding in unexpected directions.

With her work “New Fabric”, the Dutch artist links back to the city’s textile past. She takes a close look at woven linen threads, scaling up the basic pattern of cloth construction and changing its concept. She creates a symbolic image that speaks of an open and diverse society.

“Nowadays the social fabric has become looser. The traditional colours white, black and blue have been replaced by other (colourful) ones. Textiles themselves, their purpose and use have changed and the fabric of urban society has also changed. It’s less traditional and more open to change.”

“The social, cultural and financial network that bounds the city has made a place for new threads, looser, digital and wilder perhaps. The threads move as energized veins, discovering new ways, towards a new ground, still connected to the old”.

Jens J. Meyer, “Arch bridge”, photo credit Jens J. Meyer

Jan Gerling, “Salix”

Water and pastures are defining elements of the Lower Rhine landscape.

Jan Gerling, a young artist from Essen, discovered a route on the Plankendickskendel as a place to set up an artistic dialogue with the land.

His installation, Salix, accentuates the path among the threes with slender, towering leaf shapes made of textile material and wood.

Jan Gerling, “Salix”, photo credit Jan Gerling

The orange glowing fabric of the sculptures directs your gaze to the avenue on the banks of the Kendel and invites you to perceive it from a new perspective.

The basic shape is inspired by willow leaf, as the title “Salix” reveals.

The lanceolate textile forms merge the ideas of willow leaves and the boat, connecting land and water. Willow is a plant that needs water to grow and thrive, common in the water-rich landscape of the Lower Rhine.

Jan Gerling, “Salix”, photo credit Jan Gerling

Elena Redaelli “Free threads”

“Numerous threads, enlarged as if they were under the microscope, form a monumental tangle. Without any recognizable order, thick and thin, shorter and longer threads fit together freely. The many individuals combine to form a colourful whole, like fragments of memory to form a picture” (A.H.).

Elena Redaelli “Filo Libero”, photo credit Jens J. Meyer

The irrational development of these knots is inspired by a local craft tradition of the 19th century, displayed in the local museum. Human hairs were knotted and framed in simple and decorative pictures. A clear reminder of how textiles craft has always been present in people daily life, even in difficult times. This links back to the pandemic and the healing effect that the “free thread” embroidery technique had on the artist. Following the lines and ways of a free thread stitch, the mind is free to wander beyond any restriction.

The sculpture is made out of recycled textile materials. The artist sewed leftover pieces of upholstery material into tubes and filled them with an ecological textile fibre that is produced in Vluyn by the Paradies company. The sculpture links the past and the present, looking back to the time when threads and ribbons were produced in the city.

Elena Redaelli “Filo Libero”, photo credit Elena Redaelli

Edgardo Madanes, Weiden-Labyrinth

Niederrheinische Weiden provided the Argentine artist Edgardo Madanes with the material for his installation “Weiden-Labyrinth” at Samannshof.

The award-winning artist from Buenos Aires (Rio de la Plata) loves to create with this flexible natural material that is at home in the branched water system of the Tigre Delta, as well as in the water-rich landscape of the Lower Rhine.

Edgardo Madanes made a material, usually used for basketry, his exclusive artistic material, thus giving willow branches a place in the art world.

On the banks of the Littardkuhlen, the artist creates a small walk-in labyrinth of slender columns, arched roof domes and transparent walls made of wickerwork.

Inspired by watercourses, the willow branches wind into a network of lines that fills the airy walls like an abstract drawing. Following the tradition of leisure or tea pavilions, this light space enters in intimate communication with the surrounding nature.

Under the shade of the trees, visitors are invited to experience the artwork and discover nature as a place of contemplation.

Edgardo Madanes, “Labirinto di salici”, photo credit Ariane Hackstein

More information can be found at:

https://nv-entdecken.de/nv-entdecken/land-der-flunen/land-der-flunen.html

Edgardo Madanes, “Labirinto di salici”, detail, photo credit Ariane Hackstein