Weaving from the Texture collection by Moa Hallgren, 2015.

As part of an interesting cultural exchange between Berlin and Bangladesh, Moa Hallgren has created a range of textiles that are woven from by-products of the textile industry. Aside from taking a closer look at the handwoven textiles created for the Texture collection there are also some beautiful examples of Hallgren’s work with 3D weaving.

The Texture collection was created in the context of a fashion design exchange program which involved the Goethe-Institut Bangladesh, the Berlin Weissensee School of Art and the Berlin University of the Arts. The exchange program allowed alumni from different institutions an opportunity to explore the strengths of the textile and garment industries in each others countries. Alumni from Berlin, for example, gained an insight into the textile manufacturing that plays a large part in the economy of Bangladesh, with visits to companies that revive traditional methods or that have production methods that have a sustainability-oriented focus. In turn, alumni from Bangladesh gained an insight into the fashion design trends in Europe with visits to European trade fairs.

Knowing about this cultural exchange gives us a clearer understanding of the work that Hallgren has created, where she has merged the reference point of a traditional Bengali quilting technique called Kantha, with the use of repurposed waste materials to form new textiles.

As Hallgren explains, although post-consumer textile waste such as clothes is often given a second life, the by-products of the actual weaving process of textiles are rarely reused. For Texture, rejected single yarns, selvedges and rejected cut parts from German fabric manufacturers have been handwoven together to create textures that reference the handstitched qualities of Kantha.

In terms of technique, Hallgren describes how the textiles are created on a dobby loom:

“The fabrics are all double faced and can be used from two sides. They are woven on a dobby loom using 24 shafts, with two different warp densities, making it possible to combine the very fine silk with the thick wool scraps. For the dark blue/white fabrics, only left over yarns have been used (no wool scraps), and for one of the textiles, the warps are not binding any weft yarns but act like “stitches” on the basic cloth.”

Aside from her work with textile by-products, Hallgren has also produced some beautiful samples using more experimental 3D weaving and fabric manipulation techniques. In the coloured sample below, you can get a better sense of how the layers crisscross to create the honeycomb structure.

See more of Moa Hallgren’s work, including rugs handwoven from recycled textiles, on her website: www.moahallgren.com»

More information about the Local-International exhibition which accompanies the exchange program on Design Transfer»