Working with fabric was a common thread throughout the exhibition series. For example, Werker Collective began by investigating wood block stamps. They experimented extensively with homemade inks and created patterns on ecological fabrics.

In Dean Bowen and Bert Scholten's exhibition, the space was filled with large fabric works where, among other things, Dean gave an insight into his writing process, the world behind a poem, the notepad.

Mounira al Solh's fabric panels featured patterns that came from one of the tents of the Shah of Iran. Mounira took them to Beirut to be embroidered by women in the mountains. It looks like a beautiful tent, but the reality is more complex. You could see it as the reclaiming of a “home” by a group that suffered immensely under this Shah. Or as a monument to strong women in general, to migrants, or as a monument to all emotional and physical losses. Asha Karami created a poem based on this work and printed t-shirts that read “Comrade, what is to be done?”

The works of Hannah Chris Lomans and Amy Suo Wu were literally brought together by stitching their work together. Both used corrosive processes during their residencies. Working methods that eat away at, open, rot, fade or even destroy the surfaces that carry their texts and images. Hannah wrote their texts on metal. Amy used a similar process for the fabrics on which she made her drawings. She worked with chlorine-filled markers to bleach the colors out of the fabrics. An intimate, pliable landscape was created.

The invitation to collaborate and explore new forms of publishing are at the heart of Half Rhyme. How can printing and publishing be used to bring people together to address personal and political issues? Building on the Altered Breath series, this series also consisted of a three-month residency and an exhibition. The exhibitions addressed forms of collectivity, queerness, repressed narratives and care, among others.

The invitation to collaborate and explore new forms of publishing are at the heart of Half Rhyme. How can print and publishing be used to bring people together to address personal and political issues? Building on the Altered Breath series, this series also consisted of a three-month residency and an exhibition. The exhibitions dealt with forms of collectivity, queerness, repressed narratives and care, among others.

Last two years, I had the opportunity to initiate exhibitions that focused on collaboration and collectivity. This has been a very inspiring and educational process. For me, the works on fabric symbolize the soft power that emerges when people get to know each other better and allow themselves to be vulnerable. Slowing down to get to know each other's work and process. For me, the material textile is connected with banners and protest, but also with warmth and intimacy. I hope the exhibition Common Threads encourages people to experience that softness and reflect on friendships.

I would like to thank all participants in the two series for their work and trust: Marijn van Kreij and Ananda Serné, Astrid Nobel and Dorien de Wit, Hannah van Binsbergen and Bernice Nauta, Müge Yilmaz and Vicky Francken, Werker Collective, Bert Scholten and Dean Bowen, Mounira Al Solh and Asha Karami, Amy Suo Wu and Hannah Chris Lomans. <3

-Ester Venema

With thanks to Gemeente Arnhem, the Mondriaan Fund and Lira Fonds