TextielLab: 25 Years of Threads in Play
At the TextielMuseum, Man <3 Machine – 25 Years of TextielLab (28 March – 11 October 2026) explores the evolving relationship between textile craftsmanship and advanced technology. Bringing together eleven works developed at the TextielLab, the exhibition highlights a collaborative approach in which artists, designers and weaving specialists work closely with computer-controlled looms to expand what textiles can be.
Aiko Tezuka, Certainty / Entropy (Japan 2), 2014, Unravelled fabric designed by the artist with coloured warp threads.
Within this context, the work of Aiko Tezuka offers a focused perspective on process and material. Her Certainty / Entropy Series was originally developed through the TextielLab, where fabrics were woven by skilled technicians following her designs. Drawing on a range of historical references—from Japanese, British and Indian textile traditions to Peranakan culture in Singapore—the works combine motifs and structures from different periods and regions. Alongside these, Tezuka incorporates contemporary symbols such as copyright signs, biohazard icons and peace marks, embedding present-day visual language within historically informed patterns.
Aiko Tezuka, Certainty / Entropy (Japan 2) (Detail) 2014, Unravelled fabric designed by the artist with coloured warp threads. Photo: Gabriel Leung
After the weaving process is complete, Tezuka manually unravels sections of the textiles. This gesture shifts attention away from the finished surface and towards the construction of the fabric itself. Threads become visible as individual elements, and the structure of the weave is partially undone. The result is not a fixed composition but a material state that sits between assembly and disassembly, where the making process remains legible within the work.
Presented as part of Man <3 Machine, this approach aligns with the exhibition’s broader emphasis on experimentation and collaboration. Over the past 25 years, the TextielLab has developed a reputation for its use of computer-controlled weaving, a technique that allows for precise and complex textile structures. These technologies enable artists to test new ideas in form, colour and material, often in close dialogue with the technicians operating the machines, as well as through iterative sampling and prototyping.
Sampling of Aiko Tezuka's Certainty / Entropy (Japan 2) 2014, at the TextielLab Studio in Tilburg, Netherlands.
Other works in the exhibition reflect this range of possibilities. Early experiments by Peter Struycken explore how digital weaving can generate colour through layered yarns, while designers such as Ursula Wagner, Aleksandra Gaca and Jan Taminiau investigate three-dimensional structures that extend textiles into spatial forms. Contributions from Bertjan Pot, Fransje Gimbrère and Mae Engelgeer further demonstrate how the medium has developed across design, fashion and material research.
Sample detail of Aiko Tezuka's Certainty / Entropy (Japan 2) 2014, from the TextielLab Studio in Tilburg, Netherlands. Photo: Tommy de Lange
Weaving emerges here as an evolving practice shaped by both technological capability and collaborative input. In Man <3 Machine – 25 Years of TextielLab, textiles are less fixed endpoints than points along a continuum—processes that extend beyond the moment of production and remain open to revision, reinterpretation and reuse. What begins on the loom does not fully resolve there; instead, each work carries forward the traces of its making, suggesting that textile innovation lies not in completion, but in its capacity to keep unfolding.
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Further Information:
Man <3 Machine - 25 Years of TextielLab features the work of Aiko Tezuka, Peter Struycken, Koen Taselaar, Jan Taminiau, Aleksandra Gaca, Bertjan Pot, Van Eijk & Van der Lubbe, Fransje Gimbrère, Samira Boon, Ursula Wagner en Mae Engelgeer.
Man <3 Machine - 25 Years of TextielLab is open from the 26 March until October 2026 at the TextielMuseum, Tilburg, Netherlands.
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Image Credits:
Lead: Aiko Tezuka, Certainty / Entropy (Japan 2) (Detail) 2014, Unravelled fabric designed by the artist with coloured warp threads. Photo: Gabriel Leung.
All further images as credited in captions.