Yamuna Forzani & Céline Hurka
Yamuna Forzani & Céline Hurka
Symbols of Utopia – Dreams, 2024
Typography and textiles meet in Dreams, a knitted tapestry measuring 250 x 170 cm. The tapestry is part of Symbols of utopia, an artistic research project by Yamuna Forzani and Céline Hurka on the empowerment of women and queers. Multidisciplinary artist and queer activist Forzani has worked in the TextielLab before, but it was a first for Hurka. A typographic designer, she investigates the cultural significance behind typefaces. With Forzani, she sifted through archives and museum collections, looking for symbolism by female makers.
The research led them to historical objects such as embroidery samplers and banners, which were used as inspiration for new, inclusive typefaces. In the lab, the duo experimented with knitting their self-designed typefaces on the circular knitting machine, using the double cloth technique in four colours. Hurka provided the graphic precision while Forzani developed the organic shapes and colour schemes. In this tapestry, the first in a larger series, the letters of the word Dreams blur the line between typeface and image. The fabric is mostly made of organic cotton and recycled polyester. The tapestry was displayed in 2024 at Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven and at the Amsterdam Museum in the exhibition ‘Women of Amsterdam – an Ode.’
Photos by Céline Hurka
