“Weaving is a metaphor for life and human development”. ​Claudy Jongstra at the Goetheanum

Goetheanum, Dornach, Switzerland, 31 January 2020

“Weaving is a metaphor for life and human development”
Claudy Jongstra at the Goetheanum

Claudy Jongstra will be at the Goetheanum from 5 to 8 February during the exhibition of her monumental installation ‘Woven Skin’ (2018) made from felted wool. In addition, her triptych ‘Landscape in Pointillism’ (2019) will be exhibited in the foyer of the Goetheanum until the end of May 2020.

From a distance, the red-dyed woolen fabrics hung in a circle are reminiscent of bloody meat. Christiane Haid suspects that visitors might be shocked. She is head of the Visual Art Section and curated the exhibition of both works together with Barbara Schnetzler. Claudy Jongstra confirms this impression: “They should be shocked! Because that‘s also part of the meaning of art, it is a manifesto. External beauty does not change the world.” Her large-scale work ‘Woven Skin’ which is 2.2 metres high, 48 metres long and 10 metres wide, thus becomes a political statement: as a symbolic place of refuge or as a centre for community gatherings.

It is therefore not surprising that ‘Woven Skin’ was exhibited at the New York Climate Summit in 2018, at ‘Manifesta 12’ in Palermo and at ‘waste NO waste’ in Groningen. But why now on the grounds of the Goetheanum? Jean-Michel Florin and Ueli Hurter, the leaders of the Section for Agriculture at the Goetheanum, met the artist who works with biodynamic wool in the summer of 2019 at the Demeter International annual conference in the Netherlands. She described how the biodynamic substances give the dyed wool a warm, intrinsic glow. This prompted the idea to show works of hers during the annual conference of the biodynamic movement at the Goetheanum.

With her artwork and architectural installations Claudy Jongstra follows a holistic approach. In her work with refugees, for example, she has observed the integrative effect of wool in traditional crafts; she also refers to neuroscientific studies that show that contact with wool has positive effects on the brain. “Weaving is a metaphor for life and human development,” she said. Her works are represented in international museums, private and corporate collections, including the Museum of Modern Art and Cooper Hewitt Design Museum New York, the Victoria and Albert Museum London, and the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam.

(2214 characters/SJ; translation by Bettina Hindes)

Artist Conversation with Claudy Jongstra, 7 February 2020, 3 pm, Goetheanum Park
Speech by Claudy Jongstra, 8 February 2020, 8:30 am, Goetheanum, Main Hall

Contact Person Barbara Schnetzler, barbara.schnetzler@goetheanum.ch