WE WON'T EXIST ONCE THE FOREST DISAPPEARS (2021)

As a part of European Green Activism School I had a chance to collaborate with young activists and a weaver (Małgorzata Pepłowska) on a double warp fabric. Based on a survey about fears around climate crisis me and my group members designed the textile with a slogan "We won't exist once the forest disappears". It was important for us to use the double warp weaving technique as both the craft and the forest are connected by the topic of nature industrialisation. Traditionally the Polish double warp fabric was created with the use of local sheep wool and plant dyes in winter as a break from farm work. However, with Poland opening itself to the global free market many traditional crafts got outcompeted by outsourced mass production. Not only the dyes got replaced with synthetic ones, but also the nature depicted by the weavers became less wild and often converted into corn and tree monocultures.

The textile was also a starting point to a series of workshops for children about industrial forestry, nature protection and craft with resulting activist posters inspired by double warp weaving.