Fair Fabrics has developed a beautiful set of linen napkins and had them artisanally embroidered in one of our workshops in Tunisia.
The living month of October has started again, which is why we have selected a number of special products to make your home nice and warm.
Listen to the language of the rug during the Salt Meet Up on June 4 in Rotterdam.
Our founder Karin Kandt-Reinders has been named as one of the top 100 women in social entrepreneurship and social innovation in Europe by the Euclid Network.
The Rotterdam artist Jolanda Linssen has designed a beautiful tapestry of no less than 5.5 meters high! For the realization, she sought cooperation with Fair Fabrics. The tapestry was recently officially unveiled in primary school IKC De Lis in Rotterdam and was made possible in part by Stichting Droom en Daad.
On Friday December 2, Fair Fabrics will give a workshop where you can design your own rug.
The workshop starts with a short introduction about the makers; the workshops in the various countries with which Fair Fabrics has been working for years, in Morocco and Tunisia, among others. We zoom in further on the different techniques, patterns and colors. Then we get to work ourselves, based on the sample rugs and colors of wool that we have brought with us.
The aim of the workshop is to gain more insight into the possibilities within the traditional techniques and designs used and to combine this with one’s own wishes. Afterwards you will also have more knowledge about an age-old craft that is passed on from generation to generation.
After the workshop it is possible to have your own design for a floor or wall hanging made by one of our weaving mills. (read more about having a rug made here)
Location: Studio Voor Goed
Address: Lijnbaan 117
Time: 5:00 PM – 6:30 PM
Bring your own: colored pencils (minimum 10 colors)
Maximum number of participants: 10 people
Sign up: Eventbrite
Exclusively for NRC readers, Fair Fabrics has designed floor rugs and wall hangings and had it woven according to traditional methods in its Tunisian artisan workshops. The rugs are made with natural wool colors and are temporarily available from NRC in a numbered, limited edition. Both designs have been created in close collaboration with the weavers, based on what they make traditionally.
Photo: Mathijs Labadie
Insulation
Rugs are the mood makers in the house and offer a lot of extra comfort. They improve the acoustics, personalize the interior and insulate in both winter and summer. The combination of old techniques with this contemporary pattern gives your interior a special atmosphere. Rugs are nice for the layout of the living space. You can break a large room with it, while a small room with a rug gets depth and thus appears larger.
Photo: Mathijs Labadie
Craft
The rugs are traditionally woven with a natural color palette by a coalition of 4 smaller Tunisian craft workshops. The weavers’ years of experience ensure tight weaving, resulting in a high-quality rug that you will enjoy for years to come. All cooperatives from the coalition are now working together on the growth and professionalization of their craft workshops.
Exclusively at NRC
All rugs are exclusively for NRC readers, available in a numbered edition and provided with a label with the name of the maker.
Photo: Mathijs Labadie
The rug is available in the sizes 140×200 cm and 170×240 cm.
This product is exclusively available at the NRC webshop
Photo: Mathijs Labadie
Unique Fair Fabrics wall hanging
In addition to the rug, Fair Fabrics has also designed a tapestry and had it woven according to traditional methods in our Tunisian craft workshops. The rugs are made of undyed wool and are exclusively available in a numbered edition in the NRC webshop. The special design was created in collaboration with the weavers, based on what they traditionally make.
Photo: Mathijs Labadie
Acoustics
Wall hangings are completely contemporary, they improve the acoustics and make the interior special and personal. Because they are all made by hand, each one is unique. You can see the hand of the maker in a landscape of combined knotting and weaving.
Photo: Mathijs Labadie
Exclusively at NRC
All wall hangings are exclusively for NRC readers, available in a numbered edition and provided with a label with the name of the maker.
Photo: Mathijs Labadie
The wall hanging is available in 50 x 70 cm and 70 x 100 cm.
This product is exclusively available at the NRC webshop.
Tunisia
Tunisia has gone through a turbulent time with, among other things, the highest Covid-19 infection rates of the entire African continent, but also national and international political unrest. The income of many trade studios has often been lost due to the recent economic downturn. With this special collaboration between NRC webshop and Fair Fabrics, the weaving cooperative in Tunisia was provided with work for 4 months at a fair price, a tapestry with impact!
Look here if you want to have a rug made to measure.
The beautiful photo location is a design by Sander Mirck van Mirck Architecture that won the Daylight Award in 2021.
Last May Fair Fabrics presented its latest project ‘The Language of Weaving’ during OBJECT Rotterdam.
Forms of language
With the project ‘ The language of weaving’ we want to investigate whether we can find a suitable way to connect even better between end-user and artisan. By providing more insight into these forms of language, we remove boundaries, and can better read and understand cultural identity. The Language Of Weaving is not scientific research, but a way to connect the worlds on an equal level and to exchange insights.
Detail. Photo credits: Frank Hanswijk
Artisan specialists
Berber weavers are artisans with many years of experience, but they are also often illiterate. They process important events and experiences through symbols and colours in the rug they weave.
The artisan weaver from the workshop in Tunisia is working on the presentation.
Symbolism
The form of language designs are intensely personal and must be interpreted with care. They often work with the symbols of love, nature, birth and happiness. But also stories in the form of personal convictions and life in the countryside are incorporated into the rugs. The form of language includes, for example, magic numbers and squares, verses from the Quran, Arabic script, geometric shapes, as well as references to the animal and vegetable kingdoms.
Photo credits: Pierre Banoori
Tradition
The history of Berber motifs goes back hundreds of years. It is unknown whether the earliest designs were used on the body in the form of tattoos, or on material objects such as rugs, leather objects or carvings. However, the long tradition of this form of language is still an integral part of the culture of North African countries, and not just in the Berber-majority regions.
Daughter and father stamp a new design for a tapestry together. Photo credits: Maikel Jay
Online shop
For the first phase of the project, we have developed 4 rugs together with the artisan weavers, in which the different shapes, possible techniques and various designs have been applied. All copies from this 1st phase of the project are for sale in our online shop, they are all suitable for both the wall and the floor.
Concept & design ‘The Language of Weaving’: Karlijne Brand in collaboration with Fair Fabrics.
Light and installation : Marco Broeders Co2RO
Design studio Dark & Stormy stamping a new design.
A selection of tapestry designs by visitors to OBJECT 2022
With stamps in the new design language, visitors could stamp their own design. Photo Credits: Lenny Oosterwijk
From 20 to 22 May, the monumental HAKA building in Rotterdam will once again be dominated by inspiration and innovation during the 10th edition of the OBJECT Rotterdam design fair. Interior enthusiasts and design professionals can finally meet in person again.
OBJECT is a platform for interior inspiration, innovative design labels and limited editions from established and emerging designers. There is a mix of product, furniture, fashion, light and graphic design.
1 of the rugs that will be on display during OBJECT in the making
For each edition of OBJECT, the selection of designers is carefully selected by director Anne van der Zwaag, seeking a balance between commercial and conceptual designs. Fair Fabrics is proud to once again be part of this design fair and can be found on the 4th floor with the presentation ‘The language of Weaving’. And extra festive because just like Fair Fabrics, OBJECT is also celebrating a 10 year anniversary!
Design your own rug
During OBJECT, visitors can design their own rug that will be handwoven by a Tunisian artisan workshop. The presentation “The Language of Weaving” shows with several large rugs how the Berber symbolism of the artisan weavers serves as a special means of communication.
Photo: Frank Hanswijk
Berber weavers are artisans with many years of experience, but they are also often illiterate. They process important events and experiences through symbols and colours in the rug they weave.
The artisans of the ‘Language of Weaving’ collection in the workshop in Tunisia
Berber symbolism
The form of language designs are intensely personal and must be interpreted with care. They often work with the symbols of love, nature, birth and happiness. But also stories in the form of personal convictions and life in the countryside are incorporated into the rugs. The form of language includes, for example, magic numbers and squares, verses from the Quran, Arabic script, geometric shapes, as well as references to the animal and vegetable kingdoms.
Photo: Frank Hanswijk
The history of Berber motifs goes back hundreds of years. It is unknown whether the earliest designs were used on the body in the form of tattoos, or on material objects such as rugs, leather objects or carvings. However, the long tradition of this form of language is still an integral part of the culture of North African countries, and not just in the Berber-majority regions.
1 of the artisan weavers shows a first sample of the collection ‘The Language of Weaving’.
The Language of Weaving
With the project ‘ The language of weaving’ we want to investigate whether we can find a suitable way to connect even better between end-user and artisan. By providing more insight into these forms of language, we remove boundaries, and can better read and understand cultural identity. The Language Of Weaving is not scientific research, but a way to connect the worlds on an equal level and to exchange insights.
Different (old) collection of carpets from Fair Fabrics
Concept & design ‘The Language of Weaving’: Karlijne Brand in collaboration with Fair Fabrics.
Visit Fair Fabrics during OBJECT
The Language of Weaving can be seen during OBJECT Rotterdam 2022
HAKA building | Vierhavensstraat 38-42 | Rotterdam
Friday 20 to Sunday 22 May 2022 | 10am-6pm
Tickets are available online and at the door and cost € 15.00, children under 12 can enter for free.
www.objectrotterdam.com
www.rotterdamartweek.info
A ticket also gives free access to the Euromast during the preview and exhibition days
www.euromast.nl
Photo: Frank Hanswijk
Photo: Frank Hanswijk
Droom en Daad Foundation has opened an express window for art projects during the COVID-19 pandemic; the Makersloket. With this they have put a heart to dozens of Rotterdam artists by giving a direct financial impulse. Droom en Daad is going to Morocco!
Jolanda Linssen
One of the makers who received a contribution from the Makersloket is the Rotterdam visual artist Jolanda Linssen. She works with different media such as drawing, painting, graphic techniques, ceramics and textiles. People are a recurring theme in her work. The appearance of a person, without being an image of anyone in particular. The appearance, skin, the surface are disturbed in various ways in order to search for the inner world.
Jolanda Linssen, foto: Huib Kooyker
IKC De Lis
The project for which Jolanda has submitted an application to Droom en Daad has the working title “wall tapestry”. Within her own theme she has made a design for a meters high tapestry. She has sought cooperation with Fair Fabrics to have the tapestry made by a professional artisan workshop in Morocco. As soon as it is ready, this rug will hang in primary school IKC De Lis in Rotterdam.
Basisschool IKC De Lis
Social entrepreneurship
During the project, a way was also sought to bring the connection between the artisan weavers and the children closer together. Recently, the HANDwerk teaching program was offered to the De Lis school, in which the craft was central and the children were also extensively acquainted with the weaving craft. On behalf of Fair Fabrics, Karin introduced the children to social entrepreneurship. The children in the class understood afterwards that it is of course not the intention for children to weave the carpets in Morocco, for example, and also that adults should not do that from early in the morning until late at night.
A first sample of the tapestry. Photo: Jolanda Linssen
Traveling to Morocco
In Morocco they are now waiting for our arrival, Jolanda and Karin go to the weaving workshop of Fatima to start the production of the tapestry together. The studio in the Atlas Mountains has already made a first sample, in which part of the total tapestry has been woven. We will take the stories we learn during our visit to the children of the school. And so Droom en Daad brings a piece of Rotterdam to Morocco and back again.
Fatima, copyrights Jenae Somedays, TBE
The first sample in the making
The first sample in the making