EQUIP’HOTEL COMPETITION WINNERS Q&A: LENNEKE LANGENHUIJSEN

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Above: Lenneke Langenhuijsen, ‘Wooden Textiles’

The final creative to join the winners of the competition ARTS THREAD held with Equip’Hotel Competition is Lenneke Langenhuijsen. A graduate of the Design Academy Eindhoven, Lenneke won in the Dining room category with her unique Wooden Textiles. ARTS THREAD asked her a few questions to learn more about her work.

ARTS THREAD: Tell us about your Wooden Textiles which you will be showing at Equip’Hotel?

Lenneke Langenhuijsen: We think of wood as a solid material only. But what if wood could be made flexible? This is what I set out to do as part of my ongoing search for innovative materials. My quest has taken me to the South Pacific island of Tonga, where locals beat the bark of the Paper Mulberry tree to make cloth. As part of the Wooden Textiles project, I have documented this ancient craft in a short film and expanded the basic principle to create a new, flexible fabric.

Experimenting with techniques often only applied to textiles, such as natural dyeing and embroidery, I’ve created a collection of interior textiles.

Lenneke Langenhuijsen, ‘Wooden Textiles’

AT: What do you hope to gain by exhibiting at Equip’Hotel?

LL: At Equip’Hotel I hope to find the right customers for my Wooden Textiles. I want to show Wooden Textiles to the hotel and restaurant industry to show them the possibilities and potentials of the product as wall coverings and upholstery fabric. I believe that especially in Paris there is a market for this sustainable, innovative fabric. It is beautiful for open public spaces and contributes to the acoustics of a room.

AT: What are your future plans?

LL: Currently I’m researching cotton for an exhibition in February in the Textile museum in Tilburg. I collaborate on a part-time basis with another Dutch designer named Brecht Duijf. We work on self-initiated projects but we also work for the industry as art directors for brands and as exhibition curators. We focus on color and content. We think color and substance always have to work together.

Lenneke Langenhuijsen’s winning work will be shown and promoted at Equip’Hotel November 11-15 2012. Visit Lenneke’s websitefor more information.

Image credits: portrait of Lenenke by Dirk Hardy.