Contemporary rug MUYSKA

patternedwoolhand-woven

With Muyska, ames presents a hand-woven wool rug collection designed by Mae Engelgeer. The pieces showcase the Dutch designer’s signature aesthetic of geometric, abstract patterns, here expressed through overlapping stripes and colours gently fading into each other – an effect that’s actually woven into the fabric. The rug’s asymmetric outline contributes to the design’s contemporary aesthetic, mixing rounded and square corners. This collection is also a tribute to the Muisca people. These pre-hispanic civilisations lived in the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, a high plateau in the Eastern Cordillera of the Colombian Andes. They were known as masterful weavers who elevated this craft to a form of language, and it was an integral part of their culture. Seen as valuable as gold, their nobility not only used artistic textiles to protect them from the cold but also to showcase their social status. Additionally, these woven goods were accepted as a form of payment or offered to the gods. The rug is hand-woven and manufactured in a small family business based in the Colombian city of Nobsa. It takes three days to dye and prepare the wool fibres and an additional eight days to weave the rug. Dutch designer Mae Engelgeer felt always drawn to textiles – from her school days through her studies at the Amsterdam Fashion Institute to her Masters in applied art at the Sandberg Instituut. Since opening her studio in 2013, she has been driven by her interest in traditional craft techniques. Using yarns, colours, patterns and fabrics, she pushes the boundaries of textile production to adapt old techniques for the modern day.