Audax Textielmuseum Tilburg

Collection

textile techniques
industrial culture
textile design
art collection
 
Textile techniques
The textile techniques collection at the Textile Museum consists of raw materials, tools, semi-finished products, pieces of equipment and machines.

These are used or used to be used for the processing of a raw material such as wool or cotton into finished textile products such as a tablecloth or tea towel. The objects were made in the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries. The industrialization of the Netherlands is clear: the cottage industry weavers with hand-weaving looms, the large factories with hundreds of steam-driven textile machines, and present-day specialized companies with computer-controlled equipment.
 
Industrial culture
In the Textile Museum industrial culture collection objects have been collected together that provide an picture of the Dutch textile industry from around 1860 up to the present day. Impressive banners of the textile unions, portraits of manufacturers, strike leaflets, a beautiful wood sculpture of Saint Severus, the patron saint of weavers, and a time clock from a textile factory are all examples of items in the collection.

In the (semi-)permanent exhibition on the first floor, ‘Warm hearts, cool heads, working in the textile industry from 1860 to the present day’, approximately 60 industrial objects are shown in a modern an interactive presentation. The presentation is called ‘Witnesses of things’. Using touch screens, visitors can call up information about the meaning of the object. There are also fascinating stories from different people, which the visitor can listen to when studying an object. These bring ‘the things’ to life.
 
Textile design
Tea towels, tablecloths, floor coverings, upholstery fabrics and curtains all belong to the Textile Museum textile design collection. The collection provides a picture of the work of the Dutch designers and artists from 1880 to the present day.
Examples of household textiles are the well-known AaBe blankets and the Ploeg fabrics from the 50’s of the 20th century. Beautiful damask items, such as those represented by Chris Lebeau, but also Art Nouveau batik fabrics and Amsterdam School carpets. In addition there are modern interior design fabrics, for example those from Ulf Moritz.

Modern implements are also gathered together in the collection, such as the knotted chair from Marcel Wanders, the ragbag chair from Tejo Remy and the Ballroom lamp from Gijs Bakker. During the last few years many products made in the Textile Lab have been included in the museum collection.
The museum invites artists and designers to make experimental fabrics, installations, wall coverings and objects to sit on. Because of this an interesting textile collection has come into being, such as digitally printed fabrics from Eugène van Veldhoven, transparent felt fabrics from Claudy Jongstra, furniture from Kiki van Eijk and Pieke Bergmans, and modern day table-linen from designers such as Peter Struycken, Studio Job, Frank Van den Broeck, Marc Mulders and Hella Jongerius, Studio Job, Ineke Hans, Scholten & Baijings, and Marc Mulders.
In 2008 the museum started to collect fashion design.It concers present day fashion which is made in the Textile Lab. The museum acquired for example two interesting pieces by Jan Taminiau from the Couture Collection ‘Follies – Autumn/Winter 2007-2008’. Objects from the beginning of the process, like first drafts, designs, colour and yarn samples were also collected.

Art collection 1960 to the present day
The Textile Museum’s visual arts collection contains artworks by Dutch artists in which textiles or flexible materials are used. The collection covers the period from 1960 to the present day.
From the 60’s and 70’s there are many wall coverings and textile objects from the so-called ‘pioneers’ of the textile movement. Bright colours, austere forms and new uses of materials all characterise the work of, for example, Herman and Desirée Scholten, Madeleine Bosscher, Loes van der Horst, and Ria van Eyk. The textile wall coverings and objects from artists such as C.A. Wertheim, Wilma Kuil, Marian Bijlenga and Barbara Broekman are concerned more with the expression of an idea. Exceptional objects are the ‘soft sculptures’ that people can stroke, such as those from Harry Boom, Tom Claassen and Karin Arink, and the inflatable objects from Nico Parlevliet.

The museum also collects modern ‘textile’ ornaments and objects to wear, such as those from Lam de Wolf, Iris Eichenberg and Felieke van de Leest.

Back to top >