Connection is the central theme in the tapestry that visual artist Janpeter Muilwijk made for the Nieuwe Kerk in Middelburg, Zeeland. Connection between people but also between old and new, church and art are woven into the tapestry. For the design of the lining, Muilwijk took a detail from the tapestry the Bladloze vijg as his starting point.
The tapestry consists of seven scenes that wind upward between two rivers. The first scene shows the biblical figures of Adam and Eve surrounded by trees, including the leafless fig. In the following scenes, Muilwijk interprets other stories and symbols from the Bible, such as new life, the shepherd, death and the harvest festival. The back of the tapestry was finished with a separate lining that uses a detail, the leafless fig, from the first scene.
The fabric of the lining was also sold as a limited-edition tablecloth. In a temporary workshop in the Nieuwe Kerk, members of the church embroidered (colour) accents on to the tapestry. Accompanying the tapestry was the publication Verweven, which includes poems by Dieuwke Parlevliet about the seven scenes.
The tapestry is based on a drawing that Muilwijk drew on eight large sheets of paper. The drawings were carefully scanned on the Cruse Scanner in the Zeeland Archives. The scans were then merged in the TextielLab and converted to bindings, in which as many of the fine details of the drawing were retained. These details can also be seen in the lining, which, made with a silk weft, is much suppler than the tapestry.
Muilwijk (Fontainebleau, 1960) makes drawings, paintings and tapestries that are inspired by paradise. He studied at the Christian Academy for Visual Arts in Kampen and HKU University of the Arts Utrecht. His work has won several awards, including the Royal Prize for Fine Art in 1992. He lives and works in Middelburg.
