First encounter with the machine labs

When the participants in the talent programme visited the machine labs at the Swedish School of Textiles in Borås, they were not there simply to look at technology. The visit was about beginning to understand which tools, materials and processes could actually help take their ideas further.

From machines to practical choices

Guided by Saina Koohnavard, Lecturer at the Swedish School of Textiles in Borås, the group were given a first introduction to the lab environments and the opportunities they offer. The conversation moved from the machines themselves to more concrete questions about what each participant needs to test, learn and prioritise in order to move forward in their own work.

One important insight from the day was that access to technology does not automatically mean trying everything. On the contrary, much of the discussion was about making choices. About balancing exploration with what is practical, and finding the processes that can offer the greatest value in relation to each participant’s own practice.

“In a way, you need to narrow your focus in order to go deeper,” someone noted during the conversation. Not as a way of limiting creativity, but as a way of building something that can actually be developed further.

Creating direction without limiting creativity

That idea returned several times during the day. Not as a restriction, but as a way of creating direction. For some, the opportunities lay in developing remake and reuse through printing, dyeing or new ways of working with existing materials. For others, the labs raised questions about how a textile technique of their own could function within a larger production chain, or how construction, embroidery and experimental pattern-cutting could be translated into a more contemporary collection.

Translating ideas into materials and processes

A recurring theme was translation. How do you translate a creative vision into a machine, a specification, a material flow or a possible production process? And how do you retain the core of the idea when it may need to take another form?

Erik Gustavsson, Lecturer at the School of Business, Economics and Law at the University of Gothenburg and embedded researcher in the project, described it as the talents building “translation keys”: different languages that allow them to speak with technicians, producers and other actors around an idea. This is not only practical knowledge, but also part of business development. When you know which machine, process or material you need, it becomes easier to seek out the right collaborations and understand what is required to take the next step.

A first step into the lab environments

The visit therefore became both an introduction to the labs and an exercise in strategic thinking. What is worth testing? What could become a prototype? What could lead to material development? And what could point the way towards future production?

This was the talents’ first visit to the machine labs at the Swedish School of Textiles. Visits to the labs at HDK-Valand will follow. Together, these environments form an important part of the programme: places where ideas can be tested, made more concrete and, at times, reformulated.

The project is led by Xperienece Next at Lindholmen Science Park, in collaboration with the Swedish School of Textiles and HDK-Valand, and with contributions from a network of partner organisations. Textile Movement is co-funded by Västra Götalandsregionen and the European Union.