The Linen Weavers / Die Leinenweber
Digital video; 15 minutes.
2020

Remixed from “Bäuerliche Leinenweberei”, a series of archive films recording the re-enactment of rural linen weaving in Dickenshied, Germany, 1978-1979.

I made this film as a way of thinking about my own work and about weaving as a  manual practice. The weavers in the film are re-enacting the labour intensive processes of traditional handweaving – processes repeated across centuries and across cultures. I have re-edited the digitised archive footage to focus attention on the hands and feet of the weavers in intimate communication with their materials, and replaced the original narration with a constructed soundtrack.

Archive film courtesy of LVR Landschaftsverbandes Rheinland.

Original 35mm film and sound recording by Gabriel Simons / Ayten Fadel / Gabriele Harzheim / Rainer Nagels / Manfred Grans / Manfred Müller / Konrad Grunsky-Peper / Heinke Jopp.