Textile Biennal 2021 ‘Food for Thought’

I am really excited to be selected as one of 25 artists from around the world to exhibit at the Museum Rijswijk, Rijswijk, The Netherlands as part of the Textile Biennal 2021 ‘Food for Thought’

I will be posting more about this exciting show in a few weeks time when I am able to share more information with you..

TEXTILE BIENNAL 2021 FOOD FOR THOUGHT

The Textile Biennale 2021 (26 June – 14 November) is an international exhibition of contemporary visual art in which textiles play the leading role as a material. Museum Rijswijk has been organizing the Textile Biennale since 1995. Work by approximately 25 artists is on display. Never before had the Textile Biennale had a committed theme likeFood today . Over the past 25 years, the emphasis has been on craftsmanship and technique that artists used to create exceptional works of art from textiles. We now live in a turbulent time and that has led us to add a substantive dimension and social involvement of artists to the Textile Biennale.

The Textile Biennale 2021 is entitled Food to Thinking .
Many millennia ago, humans started as hunters and gatherers of food. Satisfying hunger is always the main aim of man. Since World War II, the number of people living below the poverty line has been at its lowest in the history of mankind. A turning point has even been reached where more people are overweight than malnourished.
Since the 1969 Rome Report, the way in which man makes use of natural resources has been under discussion. Overproduction, overconsumption, throwaway economics, pesticide use and artificial crop modification have led to loss of biodiversity and climate change. The prediction is that by 2050 there will be 9.8 billion people in the world. The question that arises more and more often is: how are we going to feed all people and at the same time maintain the balance with our beautiful nature? Experiments are being conducted with and focus on combating food waste.
It has been found that food is not only consumed to nourish the body. Food also has a social component. Eating together is a moment of contact, of connection, the most important moment of the day for many. Due to today’s fast-paced lifestyle and the increase in single-person households, this important moment is in danger of being lost in different cultures. Eating in front of your screen and eating astronaut food rather than cooking are threats to the loss of social bonding.
There is also an emotional side to food. As a child, people experience this early on.Everyone knows the candy you get as a comfort when you’ve scraped your knee or as a punishment to go to bed without food when you’ve been naughty. In a society of abundance, the combination of food – comfort – punishment leads to eating disorders with bulimia and anorexia as the extremes. These eating disorders are also about the extreme need for control over your own life and body.

The Textile Biennale 2021. Food for thought shows the personal vision of artists on this subject.

Kate Jenkins, Quarantinned Sardines