Crafts Council Nederland (CCNL) organised a Meet-the-Masterclass with Bas Kosters, and I was there! I was invited to tag along because of my interest in craftivism and alternative knowledge production. CCNL is a Dutch platform that protects, preserves and shares knowledge of craft-practices that otherwise would be 'made forgotten' because it does not 'serve' our neoliberal 'knowledge-based' society. More about that soon... ;) Through organising workshops such as Meet-the-Masterclass, CCNL tries to keep craft exchange alive. This is important because crafts, if done right, combines traditional knowledge and practices with alternative imaginings. This helps to innovate current unsustainable and exhaustive practices that are harmful to the world on an environmental, social and cultural level.

Bas Kosters' work ticks all of the boxes above. Bas Kosters is a Dutch multi-disciplined artist, best known for his 'provocative' fashion designs (surrealist comedian and The Great British Bake Off host Noel Fielding is a fan). He uses his work to address social issues while creating a new vision of how the world could or should be. He often upcycles vintage fabrics, which is not only environmental friendly but also provides his designs with an extra meaningful and tangible layer. During this workshop Kosters guided us making quilts and gave us an exclusive behind the scenes of his creative process.

Cloth & clutter: The best way to start a Sunday morning

"It doesn't matter what you do, but how you do it", Bas Kosters says while casually browsing through his portfolio. "It's good to do something fun, but it's better to do something that's also meaningful." I, together with twelve other crafters, stare at him with awe. We're sitting in Kosters' studio located on the 13th floor of the World Fashion Centre, providing a nice view of the outskirts of Amsterdam (which mainly consists out of hotels, office buildings and the highway). It's Sunday morning and we're all there to learn from the master.

As we're sipping tea from different sized and coloured mugs, we get the opportunity to scan our environment. Kosters' studio is, as you would expect, whimsical yet orderly. On the one side you have industrial sewing machines surrounded by clothing racks with pieces from his Dear Sir/Madam: HOPE collection. On the other side you have a cleared-out working space with different boxes, bags and piles of scrap material; old blouses, skirts with holes in them and other pieces of cloth and clutter collected by Kosters or 'donated' by his neighbours, knowing Kosters will find a way to keep them out of the bin. In the middle section, where we are sitting, there's a small kitchen, a long table with mismatched chairs and an official looking office area surrounded by books, photographs and drawings. There's no one there except for us. "It's funny how people think we [Bas Kosters Studio] are constantly producing new things or that I run a whole factory, but in reality it's mostly just me answering emails."

Kosters, who started the day with coffee from his famous penis print mug (the first one, gifted to him by a friend, now a beloved item in his webshop), holds different pieces of paper in the air. "I really should get a better portfolio", he adds with a smile while, finally, holding up the piece he wanted to show us: a picture of one of his first hand stitched tapestries. Nowadays Kosters leaves all the sewing-work to his interns, but this piece he stitched himself, "which makes it extra special to me."

Get crafty, start with yourself!

After everyone introduced themselves and why they chose to join this Masterclass (mainly to catch a whiff of Kosters' creative mind), we are given a short studio-tour with the invite to roam around and explore more in between stitching. The tour ends at our desk for the coming six or so hours. After Kosters hands out some sheets of paper and pencils, we are set loose. Let the creative juices flow!

We were asked to come prepared with an idea or design. I hadn't been able to prepare and had absolutely no idea what to do. I decided, instead of starting with freestyle drawing, to rummage through the boxes, bags and piles set-out for us. I wasn't the only one who went straight for the good stuff and with a small group we eagerly grabbed whatever came to hand. Different pieces of fabric were tossed around, combined, put back and picked up again. Still without a clue, I dragged a long piece of black velvet to my seat and started to snip, trim and sew some strips together (Kosters recommends sewing three or four layers of fabric together to get a sturdy background you can work on). "Sometimes it's good to just begin", I softly mumble to myself while glancing at my neighbour who's completely emerged in her work.

As if Kosters read my mind, he came over to me and in a friendly tone asked "what are you making?". "I've got absolutely no idea what I'm doing or where I'm going", I confessed. He looked at me and nodded. He then grabbed a sheet of paper, wrote his name on it and drew a circle around it. "Sometimes the best place to start is with yourself." "Based on what everyone told me, I can see a clear connection between that what they shared and that what they are making. For instance, you choosing black velvet and you telling about your study [Gender Studies], it's an obvious choice", he says with a smile. He explains how a mindmap can help to narrow things down, give you a direction and help you construct a meaningul story while still working intuitively. Next to his name he wrote down the words 'fluidity' (inspired by my study), 'hope', 'tears' and 'self love'. After Kosters left me to think, I wrote down my name on the other side of the paper. Next to it I wrote 'relational', 'rhyzomatic', 'intersectional' and 'hollistic' (I was probably thinking about an essay I still had to write). From this I tried to envision how I could translate these words onto fabric without literally cutting words out of fabric (this was inspired by an article by Karen Barad on posthumanist performativity -instead of representationalism- and affect theory, told you I was thinking about my essay!).


Unfortunately I was unable to finish my quilt, but I'm determined to go through with it! Just being in the same room as Bas Kosters and hearing him talk about his creative process is so inspiring. I can't wait to incorporate a slice of his wisdom into my own practices. Masterclasses are a great way to foster and share knowledge. Not only by hanging onto every word a master says or practice they show, but also through conversations with your fellow crafters. You'll be amazed how much knowledge circles in/between bodies!

Do you want to see more of Bas Kosters' work? From 12 February untill the 31st of March Museum Rijswijk presents Wolzak & Kosters: Serious International Business, a collaborative exhibition between Kosters and Petra Wolzak. The exhibition features a new tapestry-series called Quest For Self-love, which explores the importance of appreciating yourself in a time when everyone is looking for validation from outside. And naturally check out CCNL if you're interested attending a Meet-the-Masterclass yourself!