Modré inovace / Blue Innovations by czech.centres

Blue Innovations

Contemporary Tendencies in Traditional Czech Indigo Print

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Blue Innovations Contemporary Tendencies in Traditional Czech Indigo Print

ABOUT THE BLUE INNOVATIONS EXHIBITION

I became interested in indigo print in 2010 when I first visited Strážnice in South Moravia thanks to my work on a project for the Museum of Textile Printing in Česká Lípa. I filmed a documentary here about this traditional printing technique, which originated in the Czech lands most probably in medieval times. The extensive history of the workshop in Strážnice includes traditional folk patterns and modern experiments by artists and I was very excited about the beautiful fabrics and the people that print them. Indigo print has undergone extensive development in these lands, from a luxury fabric for the highest classes, through mass production and subsequently integration into folk costumes. Indigo print experienced its greatest boom in the 19 th century when there was an indigo print workshop in practically every town. The industry began to diminish from the beginning of the 20 th century and the number of workshops gradually fell. From the nineteen fifties the last indigo print workshops were associated under the Center for Folk Art Production institution (Ústředí lidové umělecké výroby, ÚLUV), which became a centre for modern and experimental indigo print work. Thanks to a unique partnership between young artists and excellent craftsmen, original, products of very high quality, from the craft and artistic aspect, were created within the terms of production by this organisation, which utilised traditional procedures in a contemporary context.

Alice Klouzková curator

The situation changed after 1989 however, and there are currently only two indigo block printing workshops in operation in the Czech Republic, which means that the ordinary consumer usually only has access to indigo print in the form of small souvenirs or as part of the costumes of folklore ensembles. In the eyes of most people it represents something archaic and unusable in life today. However, combination of traditional indigo block printing and contemporary design is not precluded. Classic indigo block printed fabrics can be used in a modern and contemporary manner, if a designer who is capable of creatively using traditional knowledge takes on work with them. The purpose of the Blue Innovations exhibition is to present contemporary indigo block printing production, which focuses on emphasising a unique and creative approach to this traditional technique. A number of Czech designers, who prefer high-quality hand made products, craftsmanship, links to tradition and originality, follow onto innovative production by the ÚLUV organisation, which is unique in the Central European context. I invited several of the most distinguished figures and projects to take part in this exhibition. Young designer Martina Dvořáková, who seeks beauty in the ordinary and who creates items under the “made by ordinary” brand. Artist Petra Valentová, who combines traditional wood block printing from the Rajasthan region in India and Czech indigo print. And

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also Radana Sikorová, who uses traditional indigo block printing to create unusual accessories for interiors. And finally, students of the Studio of Textile Design from the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague, who present the results of their experimental research of decor and objects within the terms of the current concept of indigo block printing production. Visitors will also be provided with information about the two traditional indigo block printing workshops, which are still in operation in the Czech Republic, in Olešnice in Moravia and in Strážnice. Milan Bartoš and Jaroslav Plucha, the last manufacturers and restorers of indigo print woodblocks will also present their work. Traditional indigo print retains a lot of potential and, in the hands of young artists, it becomes a unique and exclusive material. Our exhibition shows the new paths open to Czech indigo block printing. My thanks to all the participating designers and manufacturers who keep this beautiful technique alive. I would also like to thank Czech Centres for the opportunity to organise a travelling exhibition and especially Michaela Dermauw, who initiated the entire project and contributed to its realisation and successful premier at the Czech Centre in Vienna in October 2017.

Anna Hrabáčková & Sandra Karácsony Department of Cultural Diplomacy of the Czech Centres

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The Blue Innovations exhibition project honours the traditional printing and dyeing technique for decorating fabric, which has been integral to Czech culture for centuries. We based this exhibition on the moment of nomination of indigo print for registration in the UNESCO list of intangible heritage, which was submitted in 2017 by five Central European countries, including the Czech Republic, and we asked designer and curator Alice Klouzková, who has been interested in indigo block printing from the professional and research aspect in the long-term, to present this highly interesting topic abroad. The Blue Innovations exhibition enables a craft that has been tested over the years, uniquely fragile and also with a trace of manufacturing secrecy, to meet its reflexion in the work of contemporary Czech fashion designers, also within the terms of applied art. Indigo print continues to be of interest and its honest existence is a source of inspiration for other contemporary creative work. This is also why it will travel to selected destinations in the world, where we would like to present it alongside regional and territorial variations or similar local techniques and establish a dialogue with them. We would like to initiate such an imaginary indigo conversation in order to open ourselves to other knowledge and challenges, whereas we hope that we will possibly be able to provide an impulse for origin of some new work....

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Alice Klouzková The purpose of my work is to prove that indigo print is not fated to die out, but can exist as a functional part of contemporary fashion design.

aliceklouzkova.cz

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in Prague, she researches use of indigo print and other traditional textile techniques in the field of contemporary fashion design and she presents the results in the Heritage project. She is also active as a curator and has published the book Heritage. Tradition, Innovation, Fashion.

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Alice Klouzková graduated from the Studio of Fashion Design at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague and she worked at the academy for several years as an assistant after completing her studies. She established the fashion brand SISTERSCONSPIRACY with Jana Jetelová in 2005. She has been managing the Studio of Fashion Design at the Scholastika school of contemporary arts since 2014. Within the terms of her doctoral studies at the AAAD

Martina Dvořáková What I most enjoy about working with indigo print is collaborating with people who endeavour to maintain a tradition with patience, diligence and love of their craft.

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Martina Dvořáková graduated from the programme of Fashion and Costume Studies at La Sapienza University in Rome and the Studio of Fashion Design under the guidance of Alice Klouzková at Scholastika in Prague. Her admiration of and respect towards traditional crafts brought her to indigo print and her collaboration with the workshop in Strážnice. In 2016 she established the MADE BY ORDINARY brand for which she creates women’s and men’s clothing and accessories. Martina is inspired by the beauty of everyday life, she seeks beauty in the ordinary and emphasises the value of materials and their manufacturers. She draws minimalistic patterns consisting of imperfect stripes by hand and she also works with cloth dyed simply in an indigo bath, which was traditionally used to make work aprons. This blue cloth, which may appear ordinary at first glance, is unique due to its gorgeous shades of blue.

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info@madebyordinary.com

Petra Valentová I consider the identity that is linked to each design important.

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radana.sikorova@gmail.com (+ 420) 731 626 585

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www.imprintedstory.com

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Petra Valentová, a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, has worked with fabric prints, among others, in her work for several years. Within the scope of her doctoral studies at the Studio of Textile Design at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague she combines traditional wood block printing from the Rajasthan region in India and Czech indigo block printing from Strážnice. She works on mapping wood block printing workshops and their production in India. She is interested in the phenomenon of sustainable fashion and she works with a community of traditional chhipa printers. Petra develops new designs, which she realises in India and the Czech Republic. Her current topic is fields and weeds. She experiments with various types of fabric, which she prints mainly using floral or geometric motifs.

Johana Němečková and Barbora Vildová

Óda

Óda is a joint project by Johana Němečková and Barbora Vildová who are students of the Studio of Furniture and Interior design at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague. In this project they return to the verified principles of old methods, which meet current aesthetic requirements. As well as pottery and wooden furniture they also work with indigo print. They decided to disrupt the strict regularity of repeated patterns, typical for indigo block print, and dissolved areas into a random abstract nebula. This resulted in a minimalistic indigo print fabric and place mats.

odanadoma.cz

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Radana Sikorová

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radana.sikorova@gmail.com

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Radana Sikorová graduated from the Studio of Fashion Design at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague. She currently works as a teacher at the Secondary School of Aloys Klar. She creates unique hand sewn objects from carefully chosen indigo print patterns.

Studio of Textile Design, Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague

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Tradition and respect for craftsmanship

During the summer semester of 2016, students of the Studio of Textile Design at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague, under the guidance of MgA Jitka Škopová, presented their concepts for contemporary use of indigo print. They were inspired by the Land Jubilee Exhibition, which was held in 1891 in Prague and which presented the status of Czech industrial and agricultural production. Attention also focused on the social aspect of life in the Czech lands and the exhibition raised national awareness. Each student selected one craft or area that he/she thoroughly studied for inspiration. The young designers drew inspiration from vernacular simplicity, ordinariness, real and pure spontaneity. Indigo block printing and various crafts established a dialogue together and mutually complemented each other. The resulting work was realised in the crafts workshop of the Danzinger Family in Olešnice.

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www.umprum.cz

Studio of Textile Design, Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague

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Zuzana Martinusová

Kateřina Haderková

Aneta Dvořáková

Joinery

Poetry – Common Chicory

Carpentry

Czech language – national pride

Alžběta comes from the foothills of the Giant Mountains and she chose the craft of joinery as her inspiration. She was interested in painted vernacular furniture, particularly the chests, which are typical for her region. In the past this furniture was inherited from generation to generation and people had a strong connection with it. The chests were given to brides for their trousseau and were used as containers for preserving valuable items. Traditional decorations consisted of a combination of geometric fields and symmetrically painted bouquets. This aesthetic was an inspiration for the décor and this student converted the typical patterns on the furniture into loose indigo print compositions. She subsequently created a wooden altar, which is covered in cotton fabric and is intended for the contemporary interior, should reflect inner values and be used keep small personal items.

Kateřina was inspired by carpentry, a traditional craft linked to construction and architecture. She drew inspiration from the traces left by chisels in wood for motifs alternating rounded and angular shapes. She created a collection of rhythmic indigo block printing patterns, realised using screen printing techniques and her own printing blocks carved from lime tree wood. She subsequently converted the morphology of architectural elements into a series of folders used to keep books, papers and magazines or small items. The folders are made using bookbinding techniques and covered in cotton fabric designed by the author.

Zuzana was interested in poetry from the turn of the 19 th and 20 th century. Vernacular songs and poems frequently mention the sweet and difficult fate of young women as they wait for their beloved. They have love, hope and dreams to fill their days with. The main motif was Common Chicory – a small plant that grows along roads and in ditches in the Czech Republic, and graphically accompanies the beloved on his journey. Its blue colour beautifully corresponds with the colour of indigo print. She created a series of small concrete objects depicting silhouettes of figures, landscapes and dreams, complemented by printed wool felt.

Aneta sought a strong motif of national pride and found it in the Czech language. She focused on the personages of writers linked to the national revival period. She created fabric objects formally utilising the principles of book binding and containing parts of letters and diaries by Karel Hynek Mácha, Karel Jaromír Erben and Karel Havlíček Borovský. This resulted in a symbolic treasure chest of the Czech language.

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Alžběta Prouzová

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Milan Bartoš I learnt how to make woodblocks from my grandfather. I visited him in his workshop from my fifth year in school, I sat under his work table and borrowed his tools.

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mobartos@seznam.cz

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Milan Bartoš is one of the last craftsmen in the Czech Republic who is capable of making or repairing traditional woodblocks for indigo print. He inherited the lovely workshop full of quaint tools in Rybova Street in Dvůr Králové from his grandfather, who was a well-known pattern carving master. He collaborates with the workshops in Strážnice and in Olešnice, and he repairs their woodblocks in cooperation with his colleague Jaroslav Plucha.

The Strážnice Indigo Print

František Joch Jr. I was born to this, block printing took place in our house and we had to help when we were children.

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Gabriela Bartošková I see the heart of the man who creates it in the indigo block printed fabric.

In Strážnice in South Moravia a team of skilled people assure the running of a traditional indigo print workshop. This is one of the last two places in the Czech Republic where indigo print takes place. The charismatic personality of Mr. František Joch Jr., who is – in spite of his fairly high age – full of vigour and enthusiasm for his work, is at the centre of all activities. His niece Jitka Binderová is responsible for overall organization of the production and marketing, while Jan Mička is concerned mainly with dying and treating cloth. The latest arrival in the family business is Gabriela Bartošková, Mr. Joch’s grandniece, who represents the fifth generation of the Strážnice indigo printers.

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www.straznicky-modrotisk.cz

Modrotisk Danzinger Olešnice

Jiří Danzinger Jr. We only print by hand.

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The Weiss Family’s (now the Danzinger Family) dyeing secrets date back to the 16th century. Printing has been carried out in the family indigo print workshop in Olešnice in Moravia since 1816 and equipment that is over a century old is still in use. The Danzinger family adheres to the traditional procedure for indigo block printing: linen or cotton cloth is dyed using indigo and the patterns are printed by hand using original woodblocks. During the communist regime the workshop was forced to work under the patronage of the Center for Folk Art Production. The workshop, which includes a small museum, is now managed by Jiří Danzinger Junior.

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www.modrotisk-danzinger.cz

Czech Centres Agency of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, established to promote the Czech Republic around the world. The network of centres is an active instrument of the Czech Republic’s foreign policy used in public diplomacy. We support presentations associated with culture, external economic relations and tourism. We provide an information service about the Czech Republic. The Czech Centres network consists of the Czech Centres headquarters in Prague, 22 branches abroad, and the Czech House in Moscow.

www.czechcentres.cz

Blue Innovations exhibition Organiser: Czech Centres Partner: Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague Exhibition Curator: Alice Klouzková Exhibition Design: Lenka Míková Graphic Design: Adam Uchytil Typeface: Rhymes and Graebenbach Cover photo: Tomáš Brabec