2024 PRIZES
Acquisition Prize
ANNA ILL
“EMBRACING LIMITS I, II AND III”
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Spain
LARA SALOUS
“AROUND THEIR HANDS”
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Palestine
The work “Embracing Limits I, II and III”, by the Spanish artist Anna Ill, was distinguished with the Acquisition Prize for the International Exhibition at Contextile 2024 – Contemporary Textile Art Biennial, present at the Palácio Vila Flor, in Guimarães, and which extends until December 15th.
“Embracing Limits I, II and III” is a series of works that explore the relationship between the concepts of vulnerability and protection. By using solid and rigid materials, Anna Ill creates unique and fragile textiles that emerge from each object. The textile seeks to escape the limits of objects and contains no previous memory in contrast to the harshness of the objects’ meaning. With this confrontation of materials, harmony and balance are sought so that both can (co)exist.
Anna Ill works at the intersection of sculpture, textiles and photography, inspired by the concepts of vulnerability, memory and the body. He has a master’s degree in Art and Space from Kingston University (London, 2017) and a bachelor’s degree in Textile Art from Escola Massana (Barcelona, 2012-14). Recently, his work was selected for the Textile Arts Center (New York, 2024) and for the Fundació Antoni Vila Casas Sculpture Prize 2024 (Spain).
The Acquisition Prize will be acquired by the Municipality of Guimarães, institutional partner of Contextile 2022, a Contemporary Textile Art exhibition that has been leaving its mark since 2012, during the European Capital of Culture, and which has projected Contextile as an international reference in the field of art contemporary textile.
The international jury composed of Lala de Dios (art historian, curator and textile professor), Janis Jefferies (emeritus professor of visual arts and curator), Magda Soboń (visual artist and professor of visual arts), Cindy Steiler (visual artist) and Cláudia Melo (artistic direction of Contextile 2024) also awarded Honorable Mentions to the works “Around Their Hands”, by Lara Salous (Palestine), and “Kitty Van Der Mijll Dekker Heritage Project”, by Maaike Gottschal (Netherlands).
Acquisition Prize
Anna Ill
SPAIN
In “Weaving horizons”, by questioning the impossibility of touch and being touched when the body is absent, I depict the memory of the body by using textiles that were once inhabited. Two absent bodies are (re) touching as metaphor of that second skin that surrounds and protects us, but which also limits us: the skin is both a risky boundary and a bodily border.
“Embracing Limits” is a series of artworks to explore the relationship between the concepts of vulnerability and protection. By using hard and rigid materials, I create unique and fragile textiles emerging from each object. The textile seeks to escape the limits of the objects and contains no previous memory in contrast with the hardness of the meaning of the objects. With this confrontation of materials, I seek for harmony and balance in order for both to (co)exist.
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Visual artist. She holds a MA in Art and Space from Kingston University (London, 2017) and a BA in Textile Art from Escola Massana (Barcelona, 2012-2014). Recently, her work has been selected for the Textile Arts Center (NY, 2024) and the Sculpture Prize Fundació Antoni Vila Casas 2024 (ES). Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally. She works at the intersection of sculpture, textiles, and photography. Inspired by the concepts of vulnerability, memory, and body she combines textiles and found objects to investigate the tension created by these materials, resulting in a transition from the personal and private to the public and political.
1st Honorable Mention
Lara Salous
PALESTINE
What Remains
This installation examines the interplay of time, material, and labor in the Palestinian hujrah rug, traditionally woven by villagers and Bedouin women. By unweaving the rug, the artist challenges the notion of immortality in possessions, urging viewers to reconsider the spun threads and weaving process. The act of unweaving deconstructs the labor, space, time, and symbolism associated with this iconic textile.
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Lara is an award-winning architect, interior designer, and artist passionate about reviving wool in Palestinian interiors. Her interest began with a visit to a traditional Bedouin community known for wool rug weaving, sparking her curiosity about the decline of this craft. Lara’s self-driven research aims to reconnect wool with contemporary life. She holds a degree in architectural engineering from Birzeit University and a master’s in interior design from the University of Westminster, blending academic work with practice-based research.
Kitty van der Mijll Dekker Heritage Project
2019-ONGOING
Loom Installation with multiple works.
Handgrown linen from The Linen Project, Schappe silk from the legacy of Kitty van der Mijll Dekker, paper, vinyl.
Technique; velvet, satin, plain, twill and saori weave. Photography and print.
Variable Dimensions
2nd honorable mention
Maaike Gottschal
NETHERLANDS
My work is the result of all the small decisions an artist makes while working with his material in a spatial environment. Using the senses, intuition and human intelligence.
The works submitted for Contextile are woven without a shuttle. Works were made with yarn from the estate of the Dutch Bauhaus weaving mill Kitty van der Mijll Dekker and were made with hand-grown and hand-spun flax. Two works were made with both yarns. Handmade “touch design” with connections between now, past and future.
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I grew up in my mother’s sewing workshop. At a very young age I learned weaving, knitting, bobbin lace making, embroidery, silk painting, batik, spinning, and many other textile skills from family members.
During my studies, I studied various fields at art academies, in between I studied art history for two years at the University of Amsterdam. I graduated from the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam.
I have been active as the owner of Textielfabrique, where I did teach textile masterclasses on a weekly base. I deepened my knowledge of textiles with a self-organised research program “Textile as Language”.
I visited many classically trained textile teachers in the Netherlands, Japan and South America.
In 2018 and 2019 I studied for my Master’s degree in Contextual Design at the Dutch Design Academy.