MELBOURNE.- A giant lamb by Netherlands-based designer and innovator Christien Meindertsma, made using a pioneering new fabrication technology, is the focus of this year’s MECCA x NGV Women in Design Commission opening on 3 October at NGV International.

Meindertsma’s work First there was a mountain 2024 repurposes hundreds of kilograms of wool, from a flock of more than two thousand sheep based in Rotterdam, that would have otherwise been discarded as waste. Meindertsma has worked with Netherlands-based machine developer Tools for Technology to pioneer a groundbreaking robotic tool known as the ‘Wobot’ to produce the Commission.

Bringing attention to the growing issue of waste in the global wool market, Meindertsma proposes a potential solution for utilising this often-overlooked resource using innovative tools and technology.

First there was a mountain takes the form of a newborn lamb, captured standing for the very first time, accompanied by Meindertsma’s new Wobot chair both revealing the versatility of wool, and how the technology behind the Commission could potentially pave the way for sustainable, circular design in furniture and beyond.

The felted wool produced by Meindertsma’s Wobot is an environmentally sustainable alternative to petroleum-based materials such as foam, rubber, plastic, polyester and polystyrene. Unlike traditional industrial felting processes, Meindertsma’s robotic needle-felting technique requires no water and can be combed out, enabling a completely circular material life cycle.

Meindertsma is internationally recognised for using design to conduct in-depth research into materials, uncovering their properties and the stories and industrial systems behind them. Focused on sustainability and the life cycle of products, Meindertsma’s work challenges us to rethink our consumption of materials, encouraging a deeper understanding of the connections between the objects we use and their impact on the world.

Over the past two decades, the visionary designer has produced textiles, and furniture works exploring wide-ranging subjects such as animal by-products, household and textile waste, and forestry.

Previous works includes One sheep sweater where Meindertsma produced twenty sweaters from the coats of individual merino sheep, the multi award-winning Flax Chair which is an innovative, sustainable and biodegradable piece of furniture, and PIG 05049 a publication documenting all of the products made from a single pig. Meindertsma has won three Dutch Design Awards; and has work held in the collections of MoMA (New York), The Victoria and Albert Museum (London) and the Vitra Design Museum (Weil am Rein).

The MECCA x NGV Women in Design Commission is a major series inviting globally renowned female designers to create groundbreaking new work for the NGV Collection. Meindertsma is the third recipient of the annual, five-year commission series, which has been made possible by a significant contribution from MECCA’s social change movement, M-POWER. The first and only commission series of its kind in Australia, the annual commission creates a platform to present topical, world-premiere works of international significance to highlight the contributions and practices of female designers to the world.

Tony Ellwood AM, Director, NGV, said: ‘We are delighted to announce Christien Meindertsma as the latest recipient of the MECCA x NGV Women in Design Commission; an inspiring designer who is developing groundbreaking methods of production to revolutionise the global wool industry. The NGV is incredibly grateful to MECCA for their support of this design series which provides a vital platform to profile female designers.’

Jo Horgan AM, Founder & Co-CEO MECCA said: ‘Christien Meindertsma is not only reshaping industries but also inspiring women to redefine the boundaries of design. Christien invites us to explore, question and even reinvent the world around us. An ethos we share at MECCA M-POWER, our social change initiative that seeks to make the world over, by dismantling the systems and narratives that hold women and girls back from being their best.’

Christien Meindertsma said: ‘I feel very honoured to have been awarded this commission and am very much looking forward to making a new work. This opportunity will allow me to explore and push the possibilities of wool as a strong and at the same time soft material, in directions it has not gone before.’

In 2023, London-based designer Bethan Laura Wood presented the MECCA x NGV Women in Design Commission, an installation titled Kaleidoscope-o-rama, consisting of two new major works conceived in dialogue with Regency era (c. 1811–20) works from the NGV Collection and presented among an immersive audio-visual display.