Textile is a nurturing and bonding material that has been in the hands of women for centuries. Working with it took place in intimate circles of women’s communities, in silence, during simple conversations. By its nature, textile is interdependent, intergenerational, and connecting.
Through many years of research and practical work on several projects, the Oloop Institute has found that women in particular can use textile tools to speak non-verbally. They can also express themselves, are visible and accepted. Textile handicrafts have many beneficial effects and can contribute to the empowerment of the individuals and the community, the fact also confirmed by the research of other experts.
In the projects Open Hands and Story of Women, textiles were an extremely domestic medium for migrant women, as they are something they brought with them from their homeland. It is something that connects here (new homeland) and there (original homeland). Along with it, women of different ages, nationalities, and religious denominations can relax in their living environments and begin to tell stories, which is especially beneficial and liberating for the vulnerable groups.
In the project Story of Women, the records of stories became building blocks for the artistic interpretation of patterns constructed from tiny lines, transferred to a large embroidery wall.
In the project Open Hands, Oloop is looking for opportunities for social integration and material and spiritual survival of a vulnerable group of women through textile handicrafts. The project created a series of handmade and superbly designed pillows for the home from Slovenian ecological wool and an online store, which contributed to the financial empowerment of immigrant women living in Jesenice.
The Oloop Institute is run by three textile designers, artists and producers, Katja Burger Kovič, Tjaša Bavcon and Jasmina Ferček. They have been operating under the name Oloop since 2004, when they founded the Institute for Contemporary Textile Art and Design of the same name. The Oloop Group is active in various fields of visual creation, from product design, spatial design to textile art, and at the same time leads trainings, lectures and workshops, and connects design with socially engaged content.
With her products and projects, she has been participating in the most important presentations of Slovenian design at home and abroad for several years, thus gaining international recognition and some prestigious awards, including: Red Dot Concept, 2007; Honorary Commendation, BIO 20; DOS Recognition, 2019; Alpine Pluralism Award Winner, 2018.
Thanks to: To all the women involved in Oloop’s projects
Photography : Maša Pirc
