The Linen Project

Initiated by ArtEZ MA Practice Held in Common and Crafts Council Nederland in 2018, The Linen Project investigates and works towards reactivating the economic viability of small-scale local flax cultivation and linen production in the Netherlands.

The Linen Project’s various activities are developed with a view to its broader relevance. Establishing a dynamic environment for research and production, the learning by doingapproach to all stages and forms of flax and linen production unites and highlights the value of our natural, social and cultural resources.

The Linen Project seeks to reinstate the economy as a social, ecological and cultural domain, calling new ecosystems into effect by doing so. The Linen Project is committed to identifying, evolving and strengthening socio-economic patterns and behaviours that are rooted in a commoning approach. The project’s activities facilitate interactions based on participation, reciprocity and mutuality.

The inherent connections between (cultural) heritage, education, agriculture, design, crafts, and the economy, are activated within the context of The Linen Project. A growing awareness of this interdependence sets the exchange of diverse values, knowledge, skills and competencies in motion, generating insights for all involved and for the evolution of the project itself.

The Linen Project’s current activities include the cultivation and production of organic flax and linen in the Gelderland region, the Shared Stewardship initiative, the Linnen Kavels initiative, the development of a consortium for a small-scale flax spinning facility, and the facilitation of open-source knowledge exchange to create a community-supported basis for a local linen economy.