Kristina Benjocki's 'Ground Bindings' installation weaves personal and Yugoslav history through textiles
In 2019, Kristina Benjocki unveiled 'Ground Bindings (Nada, Gizela, Tereza)' at TENT gallery in Rotterdam. This installation features three handwoven textiles, each measuring 90×120 cm, along with wallpaper, a glass shelf, and yarn labels. The wool was collected from her mother's home in Zrenjanin, Serbia, as well as from factories in Ilok, Croatia (1969), Zrenjanin, Serbia (1970), and Tetovo, Macedonia (1981). For this project, Benjocki learned weaving, delving into haptic memory while intertwining her family's stories with the decline of Yugoslavia's textile industry. The work showcases binary weaving drafts and enlarged skein prints, emphasizing textile production as labor often associated with women, drawing parallels to writing and computing, while the abstract fabrics echo everyday textiles, exposing unseen labor.
Key facts
- Kristina Benjocki created 'Ground Bindings (Nada, Gizela, Tereza)' in 2019
- The installation includes three handwoven textiles (90×120 cm each), wallpaper, a glass shelf, and yarn labels
- It was exhibited at TENT gallery in Rotterdam
- Benjocki used three skeins of wool found at her mother's apartment in Zrenjanin, Serbia
- The skeins were produced in 1969, 1970, and 1981 in factories in Croatia, Serbia, and Macedonia respectively
- Benjocki purchased a loom and learned to weave specifically for this project
- The work explores haptic memory, touch, and personal/collective histories related to Yugoslavia
- Weaving drafts in binary language guide the textile production process
Entities
Artists
- Kristina Benjocki
- Sven Spieker
- Add Hoogendoorn
- Clotho
- Lachesis
- Atropos
- Penelope
Institutions
- ARTMargins Online
- TENT gallery
- Volnarski Kombinat Teteks
- Sloga
- Iteks
Locations
- Rotterdam
- Netherlands
- Zrenjanin
- Serbia
- Tetovo
- Macedonia
- Ilok
- Croatia
- Poland