Raisa Kabir, House Full of Water (Between the Two Tides) 2023, Fort Aguad, Goa - India. Antibodies 24 hour performance festival - commissioned with HH Art Spaces x The Tetley - The British Council

From February 2 to 14, Raisa Kabir (b. 1989, United Kingdom; based in London) is in residency at Lottozero.

Kabir uses woven text/textiles and performance to materialise multiple concepts, concerning the interwoven cultural politics of cloth. Kabir’s work draws on textile mobilities, nationhood, embodied archives, and geographies of anti-colonial resistance. Kabir’s (un)weaving performances and tapestries use queer entanglement to complicate structures of power, global production/extraction, and to call on the weaving knowledge systems and technologies potential to transform, dream and reimagine the world.

Kabir has exhibited work internationally at The Whitworth, Liverpool Biennial, Whitechapel Gallery, Arnolfini, Australian Design Centre, Asia Art Now Paris, India Art Fair, Raven Row, The Craft Council London, CCA Glasgow, Archive Berlin, British Textile Biennial, Glasgow International, Ford Foundation Gallery NYC, and the Center for Craft, Creativity, and Design NC.

 Kabir has lectured and shared her research at Tate Modern, the V&A, The Courtauld, ICA London, Royal College of Art, and Central Saint Martins.

Barbara Gamper is an interdisciplinary artist from South Tyrol (Italy), based in Berlin, in residency at Lottozero, from 2 to 14 February.
Barbara Gamper works across movement, somatics, performance, moving image, and textiles. Her research centers on the politics of embodiment seeking to advocate for decolonial feminist pedagogies through somatic movement workshop formats in art, education and activism.

Somatic exploration is an integral part of her daily practice, challenging the internalized patterns of socialization and expanding the body’s experience beyond the skin. Through this, she explores the body as a porous, fluid form in constant interconnection with human and non-human materialities and ecologies.

Textiles take the role of "connective tissues" fostering participation and serving as a canvas for visual storytelling.

She earned her Master’s degree in Fine Arts from Goldsmiths University London in 2016. Most recently, she completed training in Somatic Movement Education at the Somatic Academy Berlin. In 2023, she realized the project Think Like Mycelium together with mycologist Alessandra Senettin at the Natural History Museum in Bolzano.

Barbara Gamper & Fouzia W. Kinyanjui, At the point of subversion (constituting the new normal), 2020, video still.

The Lottozero Circular Wool Lab is committed to transforming rustic Italian wool — a byproduct of local dairy and meat sheep farms often discarded at a significant environmental and economic cost into a sustainable, circular textile raw material for the art and design community.

We are thrilled to announce an OPEN CALL for a one-week residency for designers and artists!

This unique opportunity offers one member of our community the chance to work with our state-of-the-art TC2 loom free of charge.
Use our cutting-edge machinery and technology to give new life to this otherwise wasted material, explore its properties, prototype innovative ideas, or produce limited series that highlight circularity and sustainability.

What does this residency provide?

• 24h access and a personal desk at the Lottozero's shared, co-working space and laboratory in Prato

• access to a TC2 digital jacquard loom (3W, 110 cm weaving width warped at 12ends per cm, 1320 ends in total, 100% black cotton)

• access to other weaving, spinning and knitting equipment in the lab, access to traditional and innovative weaving materials

• mentorship, logistical and technical support from the Lottozero staff to ensurethe successful realization of the project

• participation in company and museum visits

• a one week stay in Lottozero’s residency apartment

Duration: one working week, either March 10th–16th or March 17th - 23rd (please indicate your preferred dates in the application).

Location: Prato, Italy.

While Lottozero will provide initial instructions on using the TC2 loom and, if needed, prior consultancy on digital file preparation, the resident is responsible for the design and execution of their final piece. Basic knowledge of hand weaving is required.

Materials: the resident will have the opportunity to work with various rustic wool yarns and fiber tops.

How to Apply:

To apply, please fill out the application form and upload the following:

1. Your CV.

2. A portfolio that includes any past or current projects related to textiles.

3. A short project outlining your goals for the residency.

Applications will close Februrary 16th 2025
Applicants will be notified on Februrary 25th, 2025

This project is financed through the measure PNRR – Transizione Ecologica Organismi Culturali e Creativi, European Union - Next Generation EU

Photo: Laura Knipsael

Meet our Artist in Residence for the week: Dutch designer and tailor Sophie Nelissen, the creative mind behind Studio SUFi. 

Sophie started Studio SUFi in 2021 with a simple yet powerful mission— to craft beautiful, organic women’s clothing that’s as sustainable as it is timeless.  Frustrated by the wasteful practices in the fashion industry, she made it her goal to build a better alternative, one that respects both people and the planet. At Studio SUFi, the focus is on cultivating local textile ecosystems, ensuring every part of the supply chain—from farm to factory to final piece—works in harmony with nature.

A passionate researcher, Sophie works with locally sourced materials like sheep wool and natural dye plants, creating designs that tell a story of sustainability and craftsmanship. This week, she’s in Prato, expanding her knowledge of the wool industry to continue her journey of sustainable innovation.  We’re excited to watch Sophie’s creative process unfold and can’t wait to share more! She's going to come back for another week in April as well, stay tuned.

Dr. Savneet Talwar is a Chicago based American Studies scholar, fiber artist, educator, art therapist and somatic coach. She is currently a faculty member at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in the art therapy and fiber and material studies departments. Her art and therapeutic practice is informed by her doctoral training in anti-oppressive frameworks, social justice and intersectional feminism.

As an interdisciplinary fiber and feminist artist, her work exists at the intersection of archives, memory, language, feminists politics and questions of resistance. She is interested in the contradictions of feminist and archival matters – what and who is worthy of being a subject of discourse? What colonial narratives and images continue to define matters of the global south?

She is the author of Art Therapy for Social Justice: Radical Intersections and has published numerous articles in national and international journals on ethics of care, intersectional feminism, feminist pedagogy, the politics of crafting, culture and identity, ethics, law and cultural competence, trauma informed art therapy, and more.

Savneet K. Talwar, बटवारा (Batwara): Archive Remnants, 2024, Jacquard weaving, 25 x 20 cm. Photo: Mikey Mosher

Valentina Achilli, E’ colpa tua se non mangio più, 2024, cotton yarn, acrylic colors on linen canvas, 90x70 cm.

Working at the boundary between visual art and poetry, Valentina Achilli draws on fibrous materials like paper or fabric to address issues such as the fragility and value of language in psychoanalytic, anthropological, and sociological contexts.
What is expressed through the repetitive and mechanical action of embroidery is both familiar and foreign: words, phrases and verses left by strangers in urban settings. The traces are collected and recomposed on the canvas in a constant oscillation between readable word and a-semantic sign. 
The gesture of hand embroidery makes slow, meditative, and permanent a writing that would otherwise be fast, transient and ephemeral.

Valentina Achilli (Piacenza, 1997) lives and works in Milan. In 2020 she graduated in Painting at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts, where she decided to continue with the two-year specialisation course Theory and Practice of Art Therapy.

Anna Resei is a designer based in Hamburg, Germany. Within her work she seamlessly melds abstract and functional interior objects with a recognizable visual language that is inspired both by digital representation and tangible physical materiality. Through her distinctive use of patterns and colour she continually draws inspiration from classical textile techniques always having a conscious material choice in mind.

Since graduating from Design Academy Eindhoven, Netherlands in 2021, Anna continued her solo practice and received several prestigious awards and scholarships.
Starting off by being a finalist of the 15th Design Parade Hyères, her artistic journey lead to renowned exhibitions like the Venice Design Biennial, Milan Design Week, Dutch Design Week, MAKK Cologne, Contextile Biennial and more.
In 2022/23 she has been designer in residence at the Museum of Applied Art & Design in Hamburg, Germany which culminated in her first solo exhibition and the acquisition of work into the permanent collection of the museum.

New Resources Available on the Refashionized Website: The Trainer's Corner is Live!

We are excited to announce the launch of the Trainer’s Corner on the Refashionized website! You can now download all project materials for free, including: the History of Fashion and Sustainable Fashion Booklets, the Sustainable Fashion Glossary, the Practical Toolkit.

These resources are designed to support professionals and enthusiasts in the fashion industry, providing valuable insights into sustainability and upcycling practices.

Additionally, from November 11-13, we hosted the final project meeting and Learning Activities at Lottozero, bringing together trainers, designers, professors, youth workers, and artists from the Refashionized consortium. During these three days in Prato, participants had the chance to learn upcycling techniques, dive deeper into using the Practical Toolkit, and gain practical skills to share with their communities and fellow trainers. It was truly an enriching and inspiring experience for all involved!

Read the full newsletter here and keep up to date on Refashionized social media: Facebook  , Instagram and TikTok .

We are looking forward to hear your feedback on the Trainer’s Corner materials!

We are thrilled to announce the final exhibition of the On Weaving series, opening next Thursday, November 21 at 6.30 p.m., with a solo show dedicated to Graziella Guidotti (Castell’Azzara, GR, 1936), a key character in the Italian hand-weaving scene.

The exhibition, curated by Alessandra Tempesti, focuses on a series of precious brocades hand-woven by Graziella Guidotti over a 10-year period that tell the story of the Castellana di Vergy, the subject of a 13th-century French chivalric poem that was later translated into Florentine rhymes in La Dama del verziere. This is the only figurative series in Graziella Guidotti's vast, predominantly abstract textile production in which the decorative motifs arise directly from the weave structures, often derived from a reinterpretation of the of the textile structures of Renaissance silks and popular fabrics defined as ‘paesani’ to which the weaver has dedicated countless studies and research, considering them an inexhaustible source of inspiration.
On display are a series of small studies, created with an original weaving technique pioneered and developed by Graziella Guidotti based on the paesani fabrics and progressing to industrial production on electronic looms. The weave has been copyrighted, testifying to her extraordinary inventive ability that throughout her life has led her to study and hybridise the ancient and traditional with the modern, manual weaving with design for industry.

The exhibition is meant to be a tribute to an exceptional artist-designer and craftswoman, to this day one of the greatest experts in manual weaving, who dedicated her entire life to the study of textile culture in Italy, to research and to teaching, passing on this knowledge to new generations.

With the support of Toscanaincontemporanea 2024

21st November h 18.30: exhibition opening
22 November 2024 - 16 February 2025:
Mon-Fri 10-18 / Sat-Sun by appointment

Graziella Guidotti, La dama del verziere, detail, 2000-2012, 24 brocade handwoven fabrics, mixed yarns.

Marcos Kueh is a Malaysian textile artist currently based in The Netherlands, with a professional background in Graphic Design and a BA in Textile from the Royal Academy of Art (KABK) in The Haag. Growing up in a post-colonial developing country, he has always been fascinated by his Malay identity and how it is perceived in the West. The ancestors of his land encapsulated their dreams, myths and hopes in their textiles, as a visual language before the arrival of the alphabet. Many of Kueh’s textile works are explorations and speculations of the traditional meaning of the craftsmanship in the contemporary context, searching for new narratives to navigate the globalized word.
His practice has motivated him to work and learn about both the traditional weaving techniques back in Borneo, introducing indigenous weaving sequences such as the Songket weaving techniques into the modern industry.
His work is represented by Galerie Ron Mandos.

Marcos Kueh is the winner of the Open Call for the TC2 residency, promoted by Lottozero within the “On Weaving” cultural program, supported by Toscanaincontemporanea 2024.

Amsterdam-based visual artist Liselore Frowijn’s practice revolves around installations and sculptures made from textiles covering objects, driven by the notion of disguise as an act of revolt.
As a transdisciplinary artist, Frowijn layers projects across multiple disciplines. In her practice, she employs collage techniques to dimension and document her work in analogue and digital formats, weaving elements from her extensive research to propose imaginary future narratives inspired by (eco)feminist thinkers.

Frowijn graduated cum laude from ArtEZ University of the Arts with a bachelor's in fashion design in 2013. After winning the Dutch Couture Award and the Prix Chloé at the Festival de la Mode et Photography in Hyères she founded Studio Frowijn in 2014. Over the years, while working on her brand and textile collections for the fashion industry, she increasingly engaged in various interdisciplinary projects, including exhibitions, collaborations with artists on films, teaching, and workshops with children. Since 2018, she has shifted her focus from creating collections to becoming a more sustainable maker, dedicating herself to visual arts. In 2023 Frowijn achieved an Art History master's, with a thesis on ecofeminism at the University of Amsterdam in 2023.

Liselore Frowijn

We have some pretty amazing news today!
After being part of the Creative Flip Learning Labs project for two years in a row, Lottozero is happy to announce that this year we will be the LLabs Sustainable Fashion experts!
We have the honor to help launch the Open Call for Learning Labs on Sustainable Textiles & Fashion...
Are you ready to inspire the next generation of creatives and lead the way in sustainable fashion education?
Do you want to make a lasting impact in the Cultural and Creative Sectors by teaching students essential skills and values?
This edition Creative FLIP looking for Cultural & Creative Professionals to co-create innovative projects with schools, introducing students to sustainable fashion, creative professions, IPR and skills in the field of sustainable fashion.
In exchange, you’ll receive financial support to bring your ideas to life as well as the possibility to be part of the Creative FLIP community.

Find out more here

Deadline: 24 October 2024 (23:59 CET)

HOW can art contribute to WELL-BEING, to the BEING well that is the essential basis of every social relationship, to DOING well (also through ‘welfare’ policies) and to WELCOMING the more or less proximal, in the sense of an authentic, empathic, inclusive openness and welcome that shares the sense of belonging of being ALL part of the same ALL?

We are excited to join the 4th edition of Bolzano Art Weeks! 

Our contribution to this year's topic is a talk on textile culture in contemporary art, with our own curator Alessandra Tempesti in dialogue with curator and researcher Camilla Mozzato.
The event will be the occasion to present “Textile Culture Backup”, a new publication that collects the digital exhibitions curated by Textile Culture Net in the first four years of its existence (2020-2024).
The book is designed by Studio MUT. 

At Parkhotel Mondschein, Via Piave 15 - Bolzano
October 5, 5 pm

Like every year, we welcome the arrival of autumn with new ideas and new projects!
On Saturday, September 21, Lottozero reopens the doors of its textile workshop for the long-awaited LOTTOZERO OPEN DAY. Come discover amazing materials and innovation through hands-on, creative experiences.

What's in store for you: an immersive day in Lottozero's workshop from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., where you can:

Discover our state-of-the-art textile machinery with live demonstrations by our team of experts.
Experiment with fabrics, colors and techniques such as embroidery, screen printing and weaving.
Be inspired by meetings with other makers and professionals from different fields.

Finally, you will have the opportunity to meet our current artist-in-residence, Carmen Schabracq, a Dutch visual artist who works with sculpture, painting, textiles, performance and costume.

We are excited to share our space of experimentation and inspiration, this is the perfect opportunity to experience the world of textile design and production up close.

Access is free
Don't miss it, we are waiting for you!

After four year of incredibly intense curatorial and research with our international partners Central Museum of Textiles in Łódź (Poland), TextielMuseum in Tilburg (Netherlands), and CHAT (Centre for Heritage, Arts and Textile) in Hong Kong we are proud to finally present TEXTILE CULTURE BACKUP.

This extraordinary 400-page publication, designed by award-winning graphic design Studio Mut, features 18 curators from around the world and more than 110 artists. It documents the online exhibitions held by Textile Culture Net, an international network of four cutting-edge institutions working on the bridge between textile art and design, fashion, urban regeneration, and sustainability, from 2020 to the present.
This game changing book captures the power and evolution of contemporary textile art, tackling important and current topics and is a physical archive of stories, cultures, and materials woven into powerful narratives.

TEXTILE CULTURE BACKUP will premiere on September 12 at 6:00 PM at Lottozero in Prato, Italy, in the presence of the chief curators from all four network partner institutions, as well as some of the curators involved.
The book will be available for purchase at the event and at the Lottozero online store.

Textile Culture Net is co-funded by the European Union. Through the Creative Europe 2023/2024 program Grant Agreement n°101099994

Claudia Losi, Oltre il giardino, 2022, detail, cotton Jacquard fabric, 1895 x 146 cm. Photo: Ela Bialkowska - OKNO studio

Join us next Thursday, September 12th, for the opening of Oltre il giardino, a solo exhibition by Claudia Losi, curated by Leonardo Regano and part of our On Weaving cultural program.

Oltre il giardino (Beyond the garden) explores the complex relationship between human beings, the environment and the language with which we communicate, questioning what can be understood as ‘natural place’ and bringing out micro and macro-narratives. The artist works on the ambiguity of the concept of landscape, on the perception of the environment around us, and on the blurred boundary between natural and man-made context.

The exhibition stems from Being There. Oltre il giardino, a two-year project curated by Leonardo Regano and premiered in June 2022 at the Rocca Roveresca in Senigallia, with the support of the Italian Council (IX edition, 2020).
In a site-specific installation for the Lottozero Kunsthalle are on display a Jacquard woven fabric of over 15 m and a textile book, realized with the consultancy of Lottozero and now part of the collection of the Rocca Roveresca di Senigallia.

Claudia Losi's research focuses on the relationship between man and landscape and draws inspiration from nature, science, history and anthropology. Her works have a narrative dimension that often makes use of textile, writing and language, creating dynamics of relationship and community participation.

With the support of Toscanaincontemporanea 2024
In collaboration with: Rocca Roveresca di Senigallia - Palazzao Ducale di Urbino_Direzione Regionale Musei Marche

12th September h 19: exhibition opening
13 September - 10 November 2024:
Mon-Fri 10-18 / Sat-Sun by appointment

Exciting news! The position of Office Coordinator is open at Lottozero. Will you be joining our team?

Check out all the details below, but please note that only candidates who meet the following criteria will be considered: a perfect command of both Italian and English, a strong passion for the textile industry, and either current residence in Prato or a willingness to relocate.

What Will Our Office Coordinator Do?

-       Answer phone calls and respond to standard emails regarding visits, internships, residencies, and other inquiries.

-       Welcome scheduled and unscheduled guests for workshop tours.

-       Handle daily administrative tasks, including managing supplier relations, procurement, and maintenance.

-       Manage shipment logistics, including the pickup and delivery of materials.

-       Oversee the team calendar and schedule appointments for visits, calls, meetings, and workshops.

-       Manage the logistical aspects of the residency program (e.g., email communications, calendar management, quotations).

-       Prepare standard quotations.

-       Organize the library, materials library, and digital archives.

Who We Are Looking For:

A person with a working style that is:

-        Precise and organized

-        Detail-oriented

-        Autonomous and proactive

Qualifications:

-        Must reside in Prato or be willing to relocate.

-        Work experience in the textile district is a plus.

-        Excellent spoken and written proficiency in both Italian and English.

-        Valid driver's license.

-        Strong communication skills and the ability to effectively engage with our community.

-        Demonstrates autonomy, resourcefulness, problem-solving skills, and flexibility.

-        A genuine passion for the textile industry and related activities.

What We Offer:

-       The opportunity to work with a dynamic and diverse team, welcoming guests and audiences from around the world.

-       A flexible position that provides significant decision-making autonomy and personal responsibility.

-       A beautiful and stimulating work environment.

-       Opportunities for growth and professional development.

-       Involvement in engaging and interesting projects.

Important Details:

-      Position Level: This is a junior position, ideal for individuals looking to start or grow their careers.

-      Contract Type: 30to 32-hour fixed-term contract with a strong potential for indefinite renewal based on performance. (CCNL terziario 3 livello)

How to Apply:

To apply, please complete the application survey. Make sure to upload a motivation letter explaining why you are specifically interested in working with us, along with your CV and any questions you might have.

Join us next Thursday September 12th for an exciting event at Lottozero.

The evening begins at 6 p.m. with the launch of “Textile Culture Backup,” a book that compiles the digital exhibitions curated by Textile Culture Net over the past four years. Published by Textile Culture Net and designed by Studio MUT, the book is co-funded by Creative Europe.

Following the presentation, we will open the solo exhibition “Oltre il giardino” by Claudia Losi, curated by Leonardo Regano in collaboration with Rocca Roveresca di Senigallia. This exhibition is part of our “On Weaving” cultural program, co-funded by Toscanaincontemporanea2024, which explores the intersection of weaving and contemporary art.

Expect an inspiring evening, drinks and refreshments will be served.

We look forward to seeing you!!