Entrevista a Nikkie Wester – Arquipelagos Criativos

Entrevista Nikkie Wester

DESIGN

Nikkie Wester has a degree from the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague Textile Design and is a concept and textile designer. She is especially interested in Future Heritage Design.
In this interview, the designer reflects on the project Água Grande; a curtain ordered by DROOG. An art piece that was part of the 7th Biennale of Art and Culture of São Tomé e Príncipe (STP) and on her involvement with the group of 30 men and women from the community of Neves, on the northern coast of the island, who developed the tapestry for three years. The challenge initially given to the designer was to work on the theme of STP History. Nikkie Wester chose to represent STP through its fauna and flora. In the lower band of the tapestry is a verse by the famous Santomean poet Alda Espírito Santo, Lá no Água Grande [There in Água Grande], which has connotations associated with the era of slavery.

What inspired in you the design of the tapestry?

I did the design of the tapestry, and first of all, I was asked to design a curtain for the CACAU building. They asked me to do something with the history of São Tomé and Príncipe, the complete istory which, of course, is mainly a history of slavery, so it was a big topic, difficult to broach. Then I decided to display the past via flora and fauna.
The design shows from left to right: The original forest of STP, then plants that came with the plantations, moving to products that are cultivated on the island now. So, the past and the future of São Tomé and Príncipe. And then in the bottom there is a poem of Alda Espírito Santo, Água Grande. It is about the sound of the cleaning of clothing in the river, but this is a reference to slavery, to the beating of bodies, so it is a doubly layered poem.
And then I researched how to make it, and I went there to teach people in Neves how to weave, so they could continue making the design.

When did the project for the tapestry begin?

The official beginning was in 2015 in November. But the work with the weavers began in June 2016. It took three years to make the tapestry. I was there for one month, intensive teaching, six days a week, from 8 AM to 3 PM.It is the fourth time I am in São Tomé currently. In the meantime, we kept in contact via Facebook/Skype/Facetime and WhatsApp

And then you came up once in a while?

It is the fourth time I am in São Tomé currently. In the meantime, we kept in contact via Facebook/Skype/Facetime and WhatsApp.

Fig. 1, 2 e 3 – Água Grande, Nikkie Wester, 2019.

How did you select the weavers?

In November, when I first came here, we were looking for a group full of enthusiasm to collaborate in a project. Then we found that Neves has a monastery where there is already a particular discipline, where people are doing a lot with their hands. So, we told them, we are going to give a workshop in weaving and that everybody that was interested could collaborate. So, then, thirty people showed up who were motivated to learn it. After a couple of weeks participating in it and learning the technique, we told them that it was a long term project, paid, of course.
The next day, a lot of people showed up, of course, because they suddenly wanted to know how to weave, but we kept with this original group, thirty people: four men and twenty-six women from Neves.

Fig. 4 – Weavers weaving Água Grande project, Neves, detail.

Did they have a special place to weave?

Yes, they have a workshop there. It is an empty church building. It is not a church exactly, but it is a space of the monastery, and it is only used for festivities; currently, they are using it for the weaving.

So, when you left, was there somebody here to supervise?

Yes, there was a supervisor. During the month of workshops, I observed the group for three people to be responsible: one responsible for the overall project; one for the technical stuff; and one person responsible for personal problems – if there were any –
There was also one person accountable for the organization from CACAU, handing the payments each month, etc. So we got four people in charge. They worked from 8 AM to 11 AM, had a one-hour break, and then from 12 AM to 2 PM a day, so they still had time to go home and cook for their children, do their grocery shopping – five days a week

So, they took three years to the tapestry?

Yes, but the project is a 90-meter-long curtain.

So, until now they did half the project, around 45 m. All the curtain that the weavers made until now is there in CACAU?

No, only 12 meters are there now, the rest is still in Neves.

What level of participation in the decision-making had the weavers in each phase of the project?

The design image is fixed because that is something that I designed. The weavers are entirely free to put colours wherever they like or to weave in a certain way. So, if you take notice in the weaving, you can see differences in their weaving, you can see, “oh, that is the part that Walter did”, or, “that is the part that Engrácia did”, so you can see their hand.

Was it what you expected, or were you hoping that they would be more participative?

It was way more than I had expected. Because, at first, I came here with my European way of working, deadlines, deadlines, deadlines, things on schedule …and then I let it go, because that works differently here. And as soon as you let it go, you see this group feeling going on. I was expecting them to read the books that I wrote, because I wrote all kinds of instruction books on how to weave, and had them translated in Portuguese.
But it was all work for nothing because they don´t read it, they just memorize it, and then they can completely redo it from their head, because of their other work approach. So, that is something that amazes me. It whole project takes longer than I thought but, at the same time, it is beautiful what they are making…it is ok.

What was the impact of this work in the community?

Quite big. I had some of the women there at the end of the month of teaching them in June 2016 that came to me and said: “you gave me a future, you gave me an opportunity to earn money for my children so that I can send them to college”. That is something quite impressive, and it was the goal, to implement a new industry here because weaving had been forgotten and we wanted to implement it again. Therefore, after the curtain is finished, I am currently working on a second project, a follow up to keep the weaving alive so that I am not needed any more, but it is done here. The goal is to have the design done on the island as well as the weaving. So to achieve a new industry in that sense. Quite big. I had some of the women there at the end of the month of teaching them in June 2016 that came to me and said: “you gave me a future, you gave me an opportunity to earn money for my children so that I can send them to college”. That is something quite impressive, and it was the goal, to implement a new industry here because weaving had been forgotten and we wanted to implement it again. Therefore, after the curtain is finished, I am currently working on a second project, a follow up to keep the weaving alive so that I am not needed any more, but it is done here. The goal is to have the design done on the island as well as the weaving. So to achieve a new industry in that sense.

For three years, it was good for the weavers to have a safe income and to learn a new technique. Now that it is finished, if they don´t have new orders, then it will be a disappointment.

Then, it will stop. That is the reason that I am currently working together with the Art School Atelier M at Kwame Sousa. I am currently collaborating with them and their students on how to teach them how to design textile. The students can make the design so that then, afterwards, the weavers can weave it. I was here last February to give lectures about concept design and textile design at the Art School of Kwame Sousa. We had discussions and conversations about cultural heritage because the current cultural heritage of São Tomé and Príncipe is always the Tchiloli. Then you have got the national costume which is of Portuguese origin. So, I was more looking to what is the common cultural heritage and, of course, I am a designer from the Netherlands and cannot tell them, “so, this is your cultural heritage”. That is not my position. But, I can help them, steer them towards it, with design thinking tools. So, the aim goal is, for me to be out of the system and have it working by itself.
We are working with some family stories that are told from generation to generation and students are now working on visualizing those stories and then afterword we will translate it into textile design. I spoke with Kwame last week. And currently, they are doing this Rhinoceros artwork, and after that, they are going to do big paintings, so I expect that by the end of this summer they will have some visuals.

And are you coming sometimes more to give some lessons?

If it only goes for teaching conceptual design or teaching design thinking, yes, but not if I am asked, “do you want to design the cultural heritage of São Tomé and Príncipe”. I say no because this is not my position since I am not são tomeense. They must decide what their cultural heritage is.
So, for the overall knowledge or techniques, yes, for the rest, no. It is the same as the project in Neves. I hope that as soon as possible, they can function on their own, that I am not needed in the loop anymore. Just maybe as a follow-up, like, “Hey, you can …” it is about empowerment and then making sure that you are out of the loop and that it functions on its own.

This tapestry is an art piece. And I am working with a woodworker. He is making another loom more suitable for clothing, and this is way quick, way fast.

Which material is the tapestry made of?

The blue lines are cotton dyed with indigo, and the other yarns are banana fibres from the banana tree stem.

Did they have this tradition of weaving before? Because, before, you said they had forgotten.

There was some, but then I am speaking of 1850, and then the tradition is gone. I investigated it and did not find anything. There is basket weaving though, like making a basket with fibres, but very thick ones.

And you worked with Uê Tela to do the dying of the yarns?

Yes. The fibre is currently imported from India. They have everything here, but they don´t cultivate it. That’s the thing. They also have the indigo plant, but they don´t grow it as a pigment. They have banana trees here, but not all banana trees are suitable for fibre. The rough ones are suitable for paper, and the fine ones are suitable for textiles. There are like three types, but again, they don´t cultivate it.

But once there will be people buying things with this material, maybe they start cultivating it.

Of course.

How do you think that the biennale can contribute to the social transformation in the case of São Tomé and Príncipe?

I think that it can enforce some pride in their own artistic culture, in their dance and theatre. Probably you have already noticed that they have the Tchiloli and have some other art forms as well, but there is so much more, except there is no pride in it. So, I think that sometimes, you must take distance yourself to look and see the overall image. The biennale can function as a mirror, give some distance.