Tapestry by Koen Taselaar celebrates relations between the Netherlands and Russia
The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Thursday, December 12, 2024


Tapestry by Koen Taselaar celebrates relations between the Netherlands and Russia
Koen Taselaar working on the tapestry. Photo: Josefina Eikenaar.



SAINT PETERSBURG.- The almost eight-metre-long tapestry titled ‘The cat, the herring, and more tall tales from the Neva’ by Dutch artist Koen Taselaar was unveiled yesterday in the Hermitage museum’s restoration and storage centre in Saint Petersburg. The work was produced in the TextielLab in Tilburg. Colourful and humorous, it tells the story of Tsar Peter the Great and celebrates more than three centuries of cultural relations between the Netherlands and Russia.

For this international commission by the Hermitage Foundation, the TextielMuseum acted as an intermediary and asked Taselaar (Rotterdam, 1986) to create a new work. His contemporary jacquard-woven tapestry recounts several important moments in Saint Petersburg’s history, from the city’s founding up to modern times. The Dutch artist’s visual story is a contemporary addition to the Hermitage’s world-famous collection, for which Peter the Great once bought the first Rembrandt.




Celebrating more than 300 years of Dutch-Russian cultural relations
The relationship between Saint Petersburg and the Netherlands in terms of trade and cultural exchange goes back centuries. When looking to modernise his empire, Peter the Great visited the Netherlands several times, drawing inspiration from various fields including science, shipbuilding and urban planning. With the knowledge he gained in Europe, he moved the capital from Moscow to the mouth of the River Neva. In 1703, he began to build on the swampy site, aided by Dutch technology. The city’s rapid development was the starting point of a lively trade in textiles from the Netherlands to Saint Petersburg.

A contemporary visual story
The tapestry depicts Peter the Great as an enormous cat, taken from a folk print (lubok) that shows the tsar as a mean cat, feared by the mice people. Also depicted are the Rusluie, craftspeople and weavers from Twente who maintained trade relations with Saint Petersburg around the first half of the 18th century and eventually settled there. On the third ship, they are represented by the cigars and bales of linen they traded. The work elaborates on narrative mediaeval tapestries, such as the famous ‘Tapisserie de Bayeux’, but uses the contemporary visual language of comics and games. The hi-tech looms in the TextielLab made it possible to incorporate non-repeating motifs and build up colours from various coloured yarns.

TextielMuseum as international workshop and intermediary
Since the TextielMuseum commissioned Taselaar to make a piece for its collection in 2018, he has regularly worked on the computer-controlled looms in the TextielLab. In this professional workshop, national and international designers and artists develop highly innovative textile projects every day. The TextielMuseum has maintained close relationships with various cities in Russia, and Saint Petersburg in particular, for many years. At the request of the Dutch consulate in Saint Petersburg, the TextielMuseum acted as an intermediary to bring about this cultural exchange between the two countries. To make the drawings for the tapestry, Taselaar collaborated with students from the Stieglitz Academy in Saint Petersburg.

Online presentation
The presentation of the tapestry in Saint Petersburg can be viewed on Youtube. The presentation is part of celebrations marking the 30th anniversary of the Hermitage’s restoration and storage centre, with speeches by Dr. Piotrovsky, the Hermitage’s director, Lionel Veer, consul general, Errol van de Werdt, director of the TextielMuseum, Koen Taselaar and Svetlana Adaksina, deputy head of collections.










Today's News

December 6, 2020

Mystery couple found in a roll of film from nearly 70 years ago

Sotheby's re-opens doors onto New Bond Street galleries

Jennifer Packer's work presents a tireless exploration of the power and potential of painting

Divers find Nazis' Enigma code machine in Baltic Sea

Armour from the Art Institute of Chicago fetches three times its estimate

The man guiding Italy's oldest opera house through the pandemic

Nigeria gets back 'priceless' smuggled antique from Netherlands

Tapestry by Koen Taselaar celebrates relations between the Netherlands and Russia

What does history smell like?

+Home and Connector Housing are joint winners of Home of 2030 Design Competition

Exhibition of recent paintings by California artist Bruce Cohen opens at Berggruen Gallery

Venice gold brightens Christmas spirit

Ben Brown Fine Arts Hong Kong exhibits iconic and evocative works by Vik Muniz

A cinematic love letter to Denmark's drinking culture

Michael Smith presents three recent bodies of work at Hales Gallery

Contemporary artists examine nature and climate change in online exhibition at Runway Gallery

Charles I coin from the Worcester mint sells for £13,640 at Dix Noonan Webb

Renaissance meets '80s rock chicks at Chanel

An artist's view of hazing rituals, haunted by tragedy

Naomi Long Madgett, champion of Black poets, is dead at 97

2020 Paul Guest Prize winner announced

The Columbia Museum of Art's Glenna Barlow named 2020 SCAEA Museum Educator of the Year

Australian Centre for Contemporary Art opens 'Overlapping Magisteria: The 2020 Macfarlane Commissions'

Hsu Che-Yu wins the Han Nefkens Foundation - Loop Barcelona Video Art Production Award 2020




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez
Writer: Ofelia Zurbia Betancourt

Attorneys
Truck Accident Attorneys
Accident Attorneys
Houston Dentist
Abogado de accidentes
สล็อต
สล็อตเว็บตรง
Motorcycle Accident Lawyer

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site Parroquia Natividad del Señor
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful