Between |#| Be-twined

Support Between|#|Be-twined - Weaving with People & the Environment

Hi, my name is Inbal Ann Hershtig , I am a Groningen based artist and researcher, focusing on human engagements with their environment through working and crafting with locally gathered materials.

In my artistic practice I combine foraged materials, traditional handcraft and non-linear storytelling, creating artifacts and site-specific installations with participatory and performative elements.

Inspired by foraging cultures I have developed the Contemporary Hunter Gatherer – a project in which I reflect on our current material culture, which is ruled by excessiveness and disposability. I document my experience, experiments and encounters on the Instagram account titled Artisanna .

Making connections in the Here & Now

In the past few years, I have been exploring our human engagement and interaction with our environment, both on the immediate strata – the domestic and daily realms, and in a broader sense of human-landscape entanglements.

Inspired by Robin Wall Kimmerer's Braiding Sweetgrass and Donna Haraway's Staying with the trouble , and as a counter action to the material culture we live in – which prioritizes the new, fast and disposable, I chose to work with foraged and found materials, as means of connecting to my own environment in the Here & Now.

Crafts as a Bridge

Working with gathered materials from my surroundings made me see the material potential everywhere I was – in my house, on the streets, at work- in what others might have seen waste, I found raw material.

I want to share these experiences and new appreciation of my environment, so I initiated participatory and engaged projects, creating outdoor interventions and 'Earth Looms', inviting people to collect materials and join me in the weaving .

My new work Between|#|Be-twined - a 2 months long 'walk-in' exhibition will be focusing on connecting people & the environment through working with locally gathered materials.

Held at Kunstprojecten Noorderstation (KPNST), the participatory weaving project will turn the old staircase of the train station into a 6-meter-long loom and a shared space for creation.

Positioned between 2 Groningen neighborhoods, Selwerd – where I live – and De Hoogte , Between|#|Be-twined also refers to the history and development of the two, being physically severed by the railways for 140 years (1884-1974).

CONNECTING THROUGH MAKING

During the exhibition, June-July, residents from both sides of the tracks will be invited to participate in a series of thematic workshops, like DIY loom-making and weaving with plants, guided walks and open weaving sessions. Aiming to encourage people to explore their familiar environment, creating connections and a new community, based on shared tacit experiences.

Support Between |#| Be-twined

Kunstprojecten Noorderstation operates under the given conditions of being free-of-charge and open to all, which is an amazing thing(!), but it also means that I need to find other sources to finance my project. While partly supported by Kunstraad Groningen, Between|#|Be-twined still needs your support to fulfill its program and creating the immersive environment in which connections will be made
How will your contribution help the project?
Your support will help to:
- Cover production costs of the exhibition and the main weaving installation.
- Promoting the project and its activities to a wider audience to maximize participation.
- Printing maps and pamphlets for the walks and supply equipment for the workshops.
- Document the exhibition, walks and workshops in stills and video.

Your support will help us to create the space and conditions for new connections to be made.
Support Between|#|Be-twined & Share with your friends!

Learn more and follow the project on Instagram and the website .