‘Wool Matters’ and the role of wool in the weaving of landscapes
“Wool Matters” is the master’s thesis project of the designer and researcher Beatriz Isca, where she explored local wool as a connector between people, animals and land. Focusing on the Dutch context, she searched for alternative values for wool that foster care and humbleness towards natural resources.
We like to call it a natural resource, but wool is a gift from the earth with its own intentions and rights, it embodies ways of living that run through generations, bonded to a landscape and a community.
The project was developed with the collaboration of Fibershed Nederland, Stichting Leidse Deken and Annemarie Piscaer.
Exploring the local wool journeys
I dedicated the first months of the project to map the current wool journey, engage with local stakeholders and start addressing the possibilities and challenges felt by the ones working to put Dutch wool back in circulation. Here, the collaboration with Fibershed Nederland and the access to their network was essential, giving me the opportunity to meet inspiring and diverse projects focused on showing the value of local wool. I traveled across the country to discuss topics like wool economy, wool values and the role of sheep in the maintenance of biodiversity with some of the network members, like Beatrice Waanders, Betty Stikkers and Maaike Hoijtink. Along the way I also interviewed farmers, processors and makers, which allowed me to collect a plurality of perspectives that enriched my understanding of the issue and the project itself.
To expand the reach of my research and connect with local citizens, I also had the opportunity of joining Fibershed’s team at Material District Utrecht, where I explored and challenged people’s perception of the material.
Visual and tactile narratives
While photographing the different environments where wool can be found and hearing the stories of the ones carrying it, I started weaving the different perspectives in what became the book “Drafting stores, spinning voices”, one of the project’s outcomes and a visual and tactile journey into the Dutch wool landscape.
It was during field research that I met Leidse Deken. I felt inspired by their mission to bring back the production of the pure woolen blanket that was a symbol of the city of Leiden until the seventies, when they were replaced by the synthetic duvets. Following the project’s goal of inviting local citizens into the local wool system, the workshop “Working with wool” was organized at the Leidse Deken’s workplace.
Together, the participants co-designed a blanket that was later woven by the volunteers working at the Leidse Deken and me.
The blanket represents the co-production between people and nature intrinsic to craft. It is a meeting place between the sheep who provided the wool, the farmer and shearer who took care of the wool, the processors who transformed the fleeces into yarn and the local citizens.
The project advocates for a shift in the ways we live, pushing us back to a natural rhythm and reminding us of how entangled we are from the other life forms around us. Its outcomes are not end results, but explorations into the Dutch wool landscape that I aim at keeping exploring and communicating.
Beatriz Isca
Ontwerper en onderzoeker over de rol van wol in onze maatschappij. Tijdens Dutch Design Week 2024 is worden de uitkomsten van het onderzoek van Beatriz Isca gepresenteerd.
Dit is artikel is oorspronkelijk geschreven en gepubliceerd in het Engels voor Stichting Fibershed Nederland, door Beatriz Isca. Niets uit deze publicatie mag zonder voorafgaande schriftelijke toestemming van de auteur worden openbaar gemaakt of verveelvoudigd.
