Workshop
The Making Of:
Recasting Organs and Rearranging Waste with Teodóra Róka
Organized by Neilabh Sinha and the Lise Meitner Group “Coded Objects”
The event series "The Making Of," organized by the Lise Meitner Group "Coded Objects" asks our guests to invite us behind the scenes of their process of making: of art works, of texts, of films, or of objects. How did they come into being? What were the constraints, limitations or adversities and, conversely, the opportunities and decisions that shaped both the process and the (potential) outcome? Rather than an artist’s talk or a scholarly lecture, this series seeks to discuss the processes of making first hand.
A second component of the series is the actual making of things. The dictum of the material, the humbling of lack of skills, the discovery of form-finding: these are all modes of knowledge that reside in the shaping of matter. Learning from artisans, artists, engineers, cooks or seamstresses, we will try to feel our way into other forms of knowing.
In this second edition, multimedia artist Teodóra Róka will present her projects from her artistic practice which explores mental states through installations and other crafted works. She will talk about her recent project Organ, Rope, Rhizome for Rietveld Uncut at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, in which exteriorised organs of the physical body are re-arranged to “allow the organs to take on new roles and connections” in a step towards exploring alternative configurations of the social interior. Teodóra will also introduce her ongoing material research into ceramic glazes, where she develops her own glazes using discarded materials found in the Amsterdam neighbourhood of Nieuw West, such as broken glass, rusted metals, plastic objects or natural residues like ash. Finally, she will discuss plans for a future project in which she aims to reclaim folk symbols through the use of traditional textile-making techniques.
Workshop: Fonó – Weaving Myths with Teodóra Róka
Drawing on her talk, Teodóra Róka will invite participants in this workshop to make and think along with her about reclaiming folk symbols through folk crafts. She will help recreate the Fonó, a traditional Hungarian weaving space used communally in the past, a space where the telling and retelling of stories also took place. Participants will reflect on the interaction between narrative and mediated expression through an exercise in weaving. Based on myths related to pagan religions and founding stories–sometimes appropriated into nationalist and populist projects that seek to build new identities around them–the workshop seeks to reclaim the symbols of these legends and create alternative narratives for them. Participants will create textile pieces in a communal weaving circle, examining how myths can be reshaped through collaborative making and how narratives and language are transformed—and sometimes partially lost—when translated into material form. Through repeated material translations and a collective approach, the exercise will test the suitability of different media (language, weaving, painting, etc.) to specific types of narrative elements. In working with folk symbols, we also ask: Where do we draw the line between folk and nationalist symbols? The produced textiles will be woven archives–with stories and acts of reimagining.
The workshop will take place in Lottozero (Via Arno 10, 59100 Prato), a centre for textile design. Please register for the workshop by via franziska.kraemer@khi.fi.it. Available spots will be distributed on a first come, first serve basis. Participants are requested to think of a symbol that they can use for the weaving workshop.
11:00–12:00 am – Talk, Via Gustavo Modena 13, M020
2:00–6:00 pm – Workshop at Lottozero, Via Arno 10 59100 Prato
[Train connection: Tram T2 to Santa Maria Novella / Tuscany Line 18514: Santa Maria Novella 13:09 – Prato Porta Al Serraglio 13:32 / 20 min walk to Via Arno, 10, 59100 Prato PO]
To attend the talk, no registration is necessary, and attendance for the talk and workshop is independent.
Test Kitchen - Rietveld Uncut, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 2025, photo: Matija Stojanovic.
Biographical Note
Teodóra Róka is a Hungarian-born artist and curator based in Amsterdam, currently studying at Gerrit Rietveld Academie. Her practice is focused on the intersection of painting, installation, ceramics and performance art. Material research stands central in her practice, experimenting with the physicality and sensory qualities of materials. This experimentation forms a basis of her interdisciplinary practice, connecting her auditory, visual and performative works. Her work has been exhibited in several solo- and group exhibitions and art fairs locally and internationally and her works can be found in private- and company collections in the Netherlands, China, US, Italy and Hungary.
08 July 2025, 11:00am
Florence
Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz - Max-Planck-Institut
Via Gustavo Modena 13
M020
To attend the talk no registration is necessary.
Further information
Notice
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