Fanja Bouts
Fanja Bouts
Untitled
A recent graduate of the Gerrit Rietveld Academy, Fanja Bouts’ spectacular final project made headlines in the art world. Her knitted universe, which can be seen in the TextielMuseum until mid-June 2025 in the ‘Secrets of making #4’ exhibition, was just the beginning. In the autumn, Bouts returned to the TextielLab to develop a woven tapestry for Dutch Customs’ new freight building, commissioned by the Government of the Netherlands collection.
The work is once again a visual feast, this time about the increasing amount of global freight and the many ways shipments are checked. These include backscatters, mobile scans, 100% checks, aircraft that are completely dismantled and trucks that are literally stopped by the arms of the freight building’s walls because a suspicious package is hidden in the cargo. The tapestry is 300 cm high and 411 cm wide. It is mostly made of wool, including three mohair yarns, to give the fabric a soft, warm look that reflects the proud employees’ feeling of home.
