Susan Kooi

Australopithecus (2543900 BCE)

Susan Kooi first came to the TextielLab in 2012 to develop a woven tapestry for Kunstpodium T, a Tilburg platform that supports emerging artists. The tapestry, measuring 160 x 200 cm, was also her graduation project at the Rietveld Academy. More than a decade later, Kooi returned to the lab to adapt the same tapestry for a new exhibition in Paris titled ‘Other side of hope/9 days’. She refreshed the design by embroidering over the woven image. This not only made the tapestry more sustainable but also changed the message from one of danger and destruction to one of hope and prosperity.

For the new elements, the embroidery team used leftover silk yarn from the curtains made for the royal family. In the original tapestry, an Australopithecus, an early hominid species, is shown attacking several baboons with a bone and a rock. In the updated version, these weapons have been replaced by bunches of fermented grapes. An embroidered comet has also been added in the sky overhead. Although comets have historically been regarded as bad omens, wine makers see them as a sign of a good vintage. Kooi’s tapestry therefore makes a hopeful statement about the French wine harvest in 2061, when Halley’s Comet is next expected to be visible from Earth.

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