Artist in Residence at the Textile Centre Haslach
Report by Batchimeg Bayaraa
05.08 – 15.08.2025

One of the most remarkable journeys I experienced this year was taking part in the Artist in Residency program at the Haslach Textile Center. From August 6–15, 2025, I participated in the Dobby weaving category. This was my first-ever artist residency, and it offered me an incredible opportunity to work with a shaft loom for the very first time.

Overall, this residency profoundly transformed my understanding of the textile world and truly opened my eyes to new possibilities. My main goal in joining the program was to gain hands-on experience with a professional floor loom. In Mongolia, due to certain cultural and historical factors, hand weaving is still underdeveloped, so this experience was especially meaningful for me.

During the residency, I had the chance to immerse myself in the Haslach Textile Center, which is home to a wide range of professional weaving tools, both manual and automated machinery, a fully equipped weaving studio, a rich library of textile-related books and publications, a textile museum, and many engaging textile art events. Getting to know the full operations and environment of this organization was truly inspiring.

On the first day of the program, Christina introduced me to the 8-shaft table loom, gave an overview of its functions, and encouraged me to freely experiment with different weave patterns. These initial experiments helped me gain a deeper appreciation for the complexity, technical precision, and creativity required to create woven textile pieces.

Next, I finally had the chance to work on the 8-shaft floor loom, which I had been looking forward to. It was an amazing experience, although it required a high level of focus and physical effort.

1. Double Weaving Technique Exploration

After testing several patterns and techniques, I decided to create a spatial textile piece using the double weaving technique. Among the many types of yarn available to us, I chose to work with wool yarn and glue yarn. Through experimentation, I discovered that glue yarn could be used to cut or separate specific parts of the fabric, which helped break away from the traditional flat structure of weaving.

It was both fascinating and challenging to calculate the cutting points and color changes on the front and back sides of the textile simultaneously. I was especially intrigued by how the visual outcome changed when switching between plain weave and double weave techniques within a single piece.

2. Material & Pattern-Based Experimentation

The Haslach weaving studio had an extensive selection of yarns — many of which I had never seen before. For my next exploration, I focused on creating structural patterns using paper yarn, plastic yarn, and more delicate specialty yarns.

I was deeply impressed by Austria’s architectural planning, its cleanliness, and the natural surroundings. These impressions became the main inspiration for my next series of experiments, which were conceptually connected to the architecture of the region.

Inspiration from Fellow Residents

As for the other participants in the Artist in Residency program, Tomoyo, Amy, and Lisa were incredibly passionate about research and eager to learn new things. I truly admired their professional skills and dedication. Outside of our time working together in the studio, we also shared many fun and memorable moments, making the experience even more enriching.

Final Reflections

Beyond my own experiments and creative practice, one of the most important outcomes of this residency was the opportunity to observe the operations of a professional weaving institution. It gave me the chance to envision and seriously consider establishing a small hand weaving studio in my own country.

I am deeply grateful to have been selected for this program and to have spent those days surrounded by textile art and design. My heartfelt thanks go to Christina Leither for her guidance, and to the entire team for creating such an inspiring and supportive environment.

 

Contact

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