2019 marks 100 years since the Bauhaus, a progressive school for art, architecture and design, was founded in Germany. A century on, the school’s ideas and teaching methods continue to resonate around the world. The modern and idealistic design philosophy also left its mark on Dutch textiles. The exhibition Bauhaus& | Modern Textiles in the Netherlands highlights the influence of the Bauhaus on Dutch textile design and traces its history from past to present. A handful of Bauhäusler, as the students were called, graduated from the Bauhaus’ weaving workshop in Dessau and came to work the Netherlands. They inspired subsequent generations of textile designers and artists.

We worked intensively with Caroline Boot, Curator of Bauhaus&, understanding every aspect in the lives of the textile designers and highlighting their stories. By chronologically ordening the works we divided the the works of the women in 3 sections, yellow; the bauhaus period, blue; their professional practices and red; their students at the IVKNO.

The female Bauhaus weavers were long overshadowed by their male colleagues like Paul Klee, Johannes Itten and Wassily Kandinsky, although their fabrics fully conformed to the Bauhaus ideal and enjoyed widespread popularity. These women have slowly gained recognition, including in prominent museums such as MoMA and Tate.

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Exhibition design by Studio Harm Rensink

Photography by TextielMuseum