de Appel is proud to be partner of the first edition of Refresh Amsterdam, a biannual manifestation about Amsterdam city culture, organised by the Amsterdam Museum together with cultural organisations across Amsterdam: CBK Zuidoost, Compagnietheater, OSCAM, Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, SEXYLAND and The Black Archives.

The theme ‘Sense of Place’ is about people, and how they relate to place. Imara Limon, curator at the Amsterdam Museum, explains: "Sense of Place also stands for feeling at home, or the experience of belonging.” The projects involved in the exhibition are centred around the city of Amsterdam, yet also show how experiences of people from all kinds of backgrounds, networks and traditions often transcend geographical borders.

"De Appel's contribution to this first manifestation focuses on the value of textiles in addition to the (social) role that textile practices play in shaping communities and the arts.” David Smeulders, Curator of Education, de Appel

With two of our Educational Initiatives – Ensembles and Kunstklassen – we explored the value and social role of textile practices: The Shadows Assembly with artist Hana Miletić and a Kunstklassen project with designer Elisa van Joolen at the Comenius Lyceum in Amsterdam Nieuw-West.

The Shadows Assembly is a collective founded in early 2019 when three textile studios in Amsterdam Nieuw-West (Atelier West Bijzonder Amsterdams, Ru Paré Community, Buurthuis Het Anker) and Hana Miletić assembled at de Appel to learn a new textile technique: sun printing. The results of several months of meetings can be seen at the Amsterdam Museum.

In the exhibition of Sense of Place, The Shadows Assembly presents their curtain work and publication.

Find out more about The Shadows Assembly here.

The Kunstklassen project with designer Elisa van Joolen is realised in collaboration with de Appel’s partner school, Comenius Lyceum; specifically the pupils of group 2: Ali Akcam, Fatima Zohra Aanzi, Hafsa Bajjati, Halime Saritas, Israe El Chari, Khaled Ismael, Mohammed Ben Amar, Safae Mellaillei, Sara Moukati, Zulal Aksu and Dina Boulydam.

During this Kunstklassen project, the group investigated and reclaimed the uniformity of fashion, and above all created awareness of the social and economic processes underlying the production, marketing and use of clothing. They present their research in the exhibition Sense of Place in the Amsterdam Museum

For more information about Elisa van Joolen and PORTAL 006 click here

Kunstklassen with Elisa van Joolen in the Comenius Lyceum.
Photos by Jimena Gabriella Gauna