ONE WEEK ABOUT Driving Dutch Design by curators Patrick Aarts Sen (BNO) and Katja Lucas (DDF). Over the next few days, we show the Drivers of 2024, Dasha Tsapenko is one of them.
Atelier Dasha Tsapenko is a design practice with a focus on bio-textiles, based in The Hague, NL. The founder of the atelier Dasha Tsapenko, develops hands-on concepts, and innovative techniques in crafting textiles — by working with diverse living organisms like fungi and plants.
To provide her non-human collaborators a possibility for growth and co-creation, Dasha offers them site-specific (waste) fibers as nutrition and/or reinforcement. The merge of various textile crafting techniques and needlework with tools from microbiology and agriculture results in grown art pieces, couture garments, and textiles. Each harvested item is unique, due to the unpredictable growth behavior of the used organism.
The narratives on sustainable co-existence and ritualistic approach in stages of creation, usage, and decomposition, play a significant role in the process. The practice of the atelier is situated between the microbiology lab, textile workshop, and a farm — often in close contact with scientists, local farmers, fashion designers, and craftsmen.
Driving Dutch Design is the professionalisation and networking programme of Beroepsorganisatie Nederlandse Ontwerpers (BNO), Dutch Design Foundation (DDF) and Stichting Stokroos that helps talented designers get started in the world of entrepreneurship.
Photography: Liza Attard, Alex Blanco, Maria Kitaeva
