ENTWINED W/ ‘Dear Julius’

The main focus of the weavings and practice of Benjamin Mengistu Navet is the creation of a dialogue between industry and craftsmanship, in order to question the production process of objects. Based on Navet’s research in post-colonial practices in the field of fashion and textiles, he has recently investigated his own Ethiopian background through pattern-making by combining traditional with industrial techniques. Whether it is handwoven, or industrially printed, straight from the industrial weaving machine, or revealed by hand dyes, whether it’s for a scenography that reveals the colonial trajectory of a fabric, the Ahmaric alphabet, crossing personal trajectories from diasporas with textile techniques, these embodied narratives are at the center of his research-based practice.

With ‘Dear Julius’, Benjamin is exploring Eastman’s layered compositions. Dear Julius is a research based on how a musical score by Julius Eastman could be translated into a jacquard weave.

“This research is about translation : How do we understand the repertoire of Julius Eastman?
This research is about echo : how are artists nowadays reinterpreting his work?
This research is about weaving Julius’ music :
How do we preserve and continue a heritage of mechanical weaving looms by combining them with musical modalities, such as punch card systems.
This research is centered around collaborations with Stanley Ollivier and Emile Van Helleputte for this first step.“

Credit: Jente Waerzggers, Elsa Martinez, Elie Carp, Courtesy of the artists

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