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Expected - Hella Jongerius - Smart hands
This autumn, the TextielMuseum is dedicating a special exhibition to the textile work of Hella Jongerius (1963) and her unique design process.
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About the exhibition
Hella Jongerius – Smart Hands playfully demonstrates how the creative design process works. In the exhibition, you will discover how designer Hella Jongerius’s various ideas and projects are interconnected. A key feature is the major donation of her textile archive to the TextielMuseum. Also on display are exceptional designs, such as Space Amulets and Aerial View (both from 2021), from the Woven Windows series.
Textiles play a significant role in Jongerius’s work. This is evident throughout her career: from early experiments with fabrics and synthetic materials to large-scale textile installations and commissions for museums and companies. Her studio, Jongeriuslab, has carefully documented and preserved all these projects.
Donation
Two years ago, the TextielMuseum acquired several important works from Jongerius’s textile oeuvre, with support from the Vereniging Rembrandt and the Titus Fund. At the same time, Jongerius donated her extensive textile archive to the museum. The archive comprises around 4,000 sketches, models and material samples.
The exhibition presents a selection of these items, each shown alongside the final designs to which they relate. In addition to the objects and archival material, the exhibition also explores the stories behind the work. This includes a video portrait of Jongerius, created by filmmaker and photographer Roel van Tour.
In short, ‘Smart hands' offers a unique insight into the mind and creative process of an influential designer. An exhibition that reveals just how much thinking, making and experimenting lies behind design.
IKEA PS Collectie, prototype Portrait. Hella Jongerius / Jongeriuslab 2005.
Hella jongerius, Textiel archief. Foto: Foto: Josefina Eikenaar
Sampler Blanket, Hella Jongerius, 2004. Foto: Jongeriuslab
Space Amulet, Hella Jongerius. Foto: Josefina Eikenaar
Samples van Hella Jongerius textiele archief. Foto: Roel van Tour i.o.v. TextielMuseum
International renown
You may already be familiar with Jongerius through her designs for IKEA or Vitra, such as the well-known Polder Sofa. But she has also worked for many other companies, including KLM and various international brands. Within the design world, she is also known for her critical writings, in which she advocates for greater depth, research and social engagement in design.
