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Look a little closer than you see, this plant has many identities beyond its political aspect. The Studio of Textile at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague explores both the cultural context and material qualities of hemp fibres.
New Beginnings
With hemp we share a thousand-long history. Thanks to this tight relationship its fibers are entangled in politics, medicine and cultural symbols. Hemp is mainly grown for its seeds, blooms and hempcrete. With new legislation in favor of hemp and more demand for local and sustainable materials, hemp cultivation is on the rise. In our country, hemp fiber is not processed for the textile industry, but one farm managed to construct from scratch machinery a scutching mill to get short hemp fibers. Studio of Textile took this chance to work with this non-textile material and explored possibilities for working beyond clothing.
Tactile Futures
Students were encouraged to work with this yarn and other hemp materials (fibers and shives/hurds) freely and approached this materiality in a myriad of experimental and technological processes. Dissolving hemp fiber into bioplastic; felting, spinning and carding hemp and wool together, traditional tapestry weaving and fusing raw fibers with digital embroidery machine. Their work shows and confirms hemp’s versatility in material but also in concepts.
A research in cooperation with weaving mill Kubák was made to find out whether local hemp and wool blend could be made into an industrial yarn combining qualities of each fiber together. The resulting yarn, made by a local weaving mill, met qualities for architecture/interior design.
From Craft to Critique
The exhibited projects expand conceptually beyond the traditional understanding of textiles. Students perceive hemp not merely as a material, but rather as a complex entity with its own history, symbolic impact, and identities, leading to a diverse range of creative outcomes. Through craftivist and critical design, they subversively offer alternative perspectives on values, health and care – questioning the structures of our current paradigm. Some projects reveal the raw, handmade beauty of hemp through time-consuming processes, oscillating between fine art and functional products for a harmonious interior. This superplant remains a dimmed star awaiting rediscovery within the textile constellation.
