Prestigious collaboration between Paris and Borås

The workshop at the Swedish School of Textiles was a preparation for a larger meeting and an exhibition in Paris at the Grand Palais Ephémère, which took place in February. The exhibition was part of the EuroFabrique project, which in turn is linked to France's presidency of the EU and was carried out in early February. The project raises questions about what Europe means for young people today, how it is possible to connect Europe with the rest of the world, and how textiles can challenge us to rethink sustainability and expression.

Over four days, more than 400 students from various Fine Arts education programmes gathered in the Grand Palais Ephémère to socialise and share their unique stories about the EU and life as a young person in Europe. The Swedish School of Textiles was the only Swedish higher education institution invited by ENSAD to together create five jacquard fabrics.

This is something that Delia Dumitrescu, Professor of Textile Design, appreciated. "ENSAD has one of France's and Europe's most prestigious textile design education programmes. Just the fact that they invited us shows that they appreciate and value our textile design education, which is a testament to the quality of our programmes, knowledge, and abilities," she said.

Ten Master’s students from both institutions together created the weaves through a series of workshops. After that, a room and an exhibition were created on site in Paris through a number of further workshops. The idea is that throughout the process, new knowledge and expression will be generated based on the students' different backgrounds and past experiences, as well as via different methods.

Once in Paris, new acquaintances, new collaborations and, above all, new expressions emerged about European cohesion, the role of art, and how life in Europe is filled with contrasts and similarities.