AWARD YEAR
2021
CATEGORY
Body
GOALS
Gender Equality, Responsible Consumption & Production
KEYWORDS
eco system, eco-feminism, art, material futures
COUNTRY
Netherlands
DESIGNED BY
BELA ROFE
WEBSITE
https://class.textile-academy.org/2020/bela.rofe/projects/GAIA/
GAIA
Interwoven tapestry of algae + female human hair, functioning as an art installation + exhibition.
GAIA harnesses art as a vehicle to raise awareness, and textile as a canvas to educate about the connections between living systems. By fusing materials from the underworld (algae) with materials from the topside world (female human hair), GAIA visually reminds us that we are a thread to a much larger interdependent web.
The sea resembles a woman- gracious, wild, unpredictable, and the essential molecule for life on Earth. GAIA represents this powerful yet unexplored connection between women and the sea which has existed for centuries; from seaweed collecting culture in the Victorian Era, to today where women are at the forefront of the kelp farming industry in all corners of the world.
GAIA aims to raise awareness about the crucial role that women have, and will continue to play in revealing connections between living systems. Through bio-fabrication techniques that reweave lost heritage and female craftsmanship, GAIA pushes this creative narrative into a new communicative format.