Lucia and Daniel welcomed us at Bosna Quilt Werkstatt on a warm summer day in August 2020. Not only artistically do they complement each other - he is a graphic designer and she is a painter and quilt designer. Together with eleven women in Bosnia they run, display and design Bosna Quilts.
When we first found out about their work, thanks to a happy coincidence of women of different generations sharing inspirational crafts with one another, we were immediately struck by the beauty of the story and the quilts themselves. The photographs of these colourful, sometimes life sized, works of art mesmerised us immediately.
The project began back in 1993, in a refugee hostel in Vorarlberg. Difficult circumstances during the Bosnian War led to women and men having to leave their home country for Bregenz, Austria. At the time, local artists tried various ways of giving employment to the women who had fled from Bosnia. Our podcast illustrates the detailed story, as Lucia tells us about a Bazar where all the women could showcase their handmade crafts - ranging from knitted sweaters to felted goods. Lucia wanted to work together with the women, encouraging them to integrate their own cultural backpack by making things together by hand. So the quilting began - with about 30 Bosnian women and Lucia, starting to work in Vorarlberg. The aim was never to provide a mere task, but to offer a steady income and employment to the women and the project has continued as such ever since.Â
After the war, many of the women were obliged to return to Bosnia Herzegovina. However, thanks to the associated individuals, above all thanks to the dedication of Safira, the Bosna Quilt project continued, despite geographical hurdles. Thanks to a fax machine and a regular bus transfer, the cooperation continued –– Lucia designs the quilts in Bregenz and sends the designs to Gorazde and Sarajevo in Bosnia. There, the women sew the layers together by hand and each stitch a very individual pattern. Throughout our talk, Lucia mentioned that each woman has a very particular style of stitching - the respectively made quilts are immediately recognisable to the trained eye.Â
We had the honour of seeing quilt after quilt spread out for us in Bregenz. We were captivated by their energy and beauty and the possibility to get lost in observing every colour and detail in each single piece. A real oeuvre of handmade artwork is stored in the Bosna Quilt Werkstatt and is frequently shown in exhibitions or the dedicated showroom. This project got our hopes up for cross-border cooperations, in particular when linked to such a beautiful handmade craft. Seeing the power of this collaboration made us leave with joy in our hearts and beautiful material to share.
Lastly, we were fascinated anew by the energy a quilt can give to a room and how it can define the interior space of architecture. As Lucia says in the podcast –– the greatest architecture is of no use, when the inhabitants do not cultivate the space. These quilts can easily cultivate any room with their extraordinary colours and intricate patterns. We are therefore very happy to share this unique work with you.Â
Name: Bosna Quilt Werkstatt
Location: Bregenz, Austria
Type: Podcast
French spoken by Capucine Haller
Â
Posted: 27. January 2021
Categories: austria, crafts, localism, raw materials, sustainable design, vernacular architecture
Lucia and Daniel welcomed us at Bosna Quilt Werkstatt on a warm summer day in August 2020. Not only artistically do they complement each other - he is a graphic designer and she is a painter and quilt designer. Together with eleven women in Bosnia they run, display and design Bosna Quilts.
When we first found out about their work, thanks to a happy coincidence of women of different generations sharing inspirational crafts with one another, we were immediately struck by the beauty of the story and the quilts themselves. The photographs of these colourful, sometimes life sized, works of art mesmerised us immediately.
The project began back in 1993, in a refugee hostel in Vorarlberg. Difficult circumstances during the Bosnian War led to women and men having to leave their home country for Bregenz, Austria. At the time, local artists tried various ways of giving employment to the women who had fled from Bosnia. Our podcast illustrates the detailed story, as Lucia tells us about a Bazar where all the women could showcase their handmade crafts - ranging from knitted sweaters to felted goods. Lucia wanted to work together with the women, encouraging them to integrate their own cultural backpack by making things together by hand. So the quilting began - with about 30 Bosnian women and Lucia, starting to work in Vorarlberg. The aim was never to provide a mere task, but to offer a steady income and employment to the women and the project has continued as such ever since.Â
After the war, many of the women were obliged to return to Bosnia Herzegovina. However, thanks to the associated individuals, above all thanks to the dedication of Safira, the Bosna Quilt project continued, despite geographical hurdles. Thanks to a fax machine and a regular bus transfer, the cooperation continued –– Lucia designs the quilts in Bregenz and sends the designs to Gorazde and Sarajevo in Bosnia. There, the women sew the layers together by hand and each stitch a very individual pattern. Throughout our talk, Lucia mentioned that each woman has a very particular style of stitching - the respectively made quilts are immediately recognisable to the trained eye.Â
We had the honour of seeing quilt after quilt spread out for us in Bregenz. We were captivated by their energy and beauty and the possibility to get lost in observing every colour and detail in each single piece. A real oeuvre of handmade artwork is stored in the Bosna Quilt Werkstatt and is frequently shown in exhibitions or the dedicated showroom. This project got our hopes up for cross-border cooperations, in particular when linked to such a beautiful handmade craft. Seeing the power of this collaboration made us leave with joy in our hearts and beautiful material to share.
Lastly, we were fascinated anew by the energy a quilt can give to a room and how it can define the interior space of architecture. As Lucia says in the podcast –– the greatest architecture is of no use, when the inhabitants do not cultivate the space. These quilts can easily cultivate any room with their extraordinary colours and intricate patterns. We are therefore very happy to share this unique work with you.Â
Name: Bosna Quilt Werkstatt
Location: Bregenz, Austria
Type: Podcast
French spoken by Capucine Haller
Â
Posted: 27. January 2021
Categories: austria, crafts, localism, raw materials, sustainable design, vernacular architecture
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