Waterloop Water

Maarten Kolk and Guus Kusters’ work is informed by the poetic expressions of the Dutch countryside and waterscapes. Their collective Studio Maarten Kolk & Guus Kusters designs exhibitions, takes commissions from private collectors, and works with Dutch heritage and nature to conceptualize new ways to use common materials.

Their New Material Award-winning Waterloop – waterway – is a collection of textiles including a tablecloth, grand foulard, tea towels, wall hangings and a rug. The textile industry is one of the major polluters of the world’s water. Waterloop is an inspiring process for sustainably treating textiles. Kolk and Kusters used digital printing techniques to print patterns on woven textiles with great accuracy, resulting in considerably less ink waste than conventional printing techniques. Water encourages the ink to flow, creating unusual patterns on woven fabrics and results in an alternative way of dyeing fabrics using less chemicals. The blue-black waste ink that is left behind from the digital printing is used to create patterns on a tufted rug.