As part of Dubai Design Week, Tashkeel collaborates with Hybridart to present the interdisciplinary, experimental and interactive Soundweaving project produced at Moholy- Nagy University of Art and Design Budapest (MOME) in Hungary. The work of textile designer Zsanett Szirmay, based on traditional Hungarian embroidery, was first showcased at Vienna Design Week (2014). In 2015 the Soundweaving exhibition went on a very successful European tour in Germany, Poland and Bulgaria. The Soundweaving − Middle East Edition shown at Tashkeel replaces the Hungarian embroidery patterns with those taken from rugs created by Afghanistani women artisans who work under the Fatima Bint Mohammed Bin Zayed Initiative (FBMI). The knotted rug motifs were transformed into sounds by a punch card comb music player, with the pattern of holes on the tape in the musical box designed by the author of the work, Zsanett Szirmay.
The punched tape acts as the score and conversely, the patterns on the rugs are turned into laser cut textile pieces. Soundweaving is intended to stimulate all the senses, calling for interaction – using multiple media and communicating on diverse planes, combining the craft, design and music. It belongs as much to the analogue as it does to digital realms, with the handmade rugs being interpreted into laser cut patterns. Similarly, visual straddles audio, with the more graphic as opposed instructional aspects of music mark-making becoming instrumental to the tunes. Dániel Vikukel worked with the graphic patterns of the rugs to map and develop patterns of sounds that culminate in the Soundweaving tunes. Soundweaving – Middle East Edition is intended to act as a bridge between two worlds, connecting distinct cultures whilst bringing together a range of artistic approaches and practices – from craftsmanship within textiles and weaving to music composition and graphic design.