The textile department of the Gerrit Rietveld Academie is called TXT. This abbreviation stands for textiles, but also for text. Both words stem from the Latin word tessere, meaning weaving. Within the department, the relationship between materiality and the written word is examined from various perspectives. That makes TXT a department for making and thinking, for hands and head.
In the weaving and the textile workshops, students learn a variety of textile making and printing techniques. During their studies, students translate these techniques into different domains in their work and research. Theory, philosophy, reading and (creative) writing play an important role in mapping the historical, aesthetic, social, political and material value of textiles.
Students work on both individual projects and shared research topics. Their experiments can result in new materials, autonomous work or socially committed statements in the form of an essay, lecture, publication, performance or intervention in public space.
