Gold leaf has been used for centuries to enrich and beautify objects, from religious icons to architectural details, making them appear more precious and esteemed. A fascinating application was in ancient manuscripts, where scribes meticulously applied gold leaf to letters and margins, creating dazzling effects that captured the light and symbolised the sacred or important nature of the text. This practice not only enhanced visual appeal but also reflected the wealth, power, and devotion of the patron who commissioned the work. The ability of gold leaf to elevate the status of objects continues to fascinate and inspire even today.
Dietmar Feldmann from Lower Bavaria is a master craftsman, running a restoration company with ten employees for 40 years. His signature adorns 70 churches, and he has restored over 1,500 paintings and 100 altars. Additionally, he has reconstructed or repainted 20 altars and trained more than 20 apprentices and 800 master students as a renowned course leader. Fun fact: he also gilded the guitars of hardrock band The Scorpions.
Join this beginner workshop on Saturday or have a look here for his master class on Sunday. In this workshop, you will have the opportunity to gild your own treasures. Bring your shells, stones, or other objects that hold memories and emotions, and learn to use gold leaf, metal leaf, adhesives, and tools like gilding brushes. In this basic course, modern adhesives are simply practised. In the advanced course on Sunday, further professional applications and the combination of adhesives, Instacoll, and Permacoll are taught and practised.
In collaboration with The ARCH.
All shoemakers are leatherworkers. Even though custom shoemaking cannot be learned in one day, during this workshop by Sepatu Studios, you can still gain experience in leatherworking and create your own 3D shape.
Before the advent of the sole stitcher, shoemakers hand-stitched shoe soles after glueing and hammering on the shaft. Of course, the holes were first punched before the waxed pitch thread was pulled through. In this workshop, you will replicate the glueing of the shaft and the hand stitching. You will also learn how to use hole punches, insert metal eyelets, and cut leather.
Your mini-pouch will be 17 cm long and 10 cm wide and will be tied with paracord.
Métier magazine is an independent publication that explores the intersection of art and craft, material and technique. At the festival, you can browse the magazine, purchase copies, or subscribe.
Under the guidance of Tanja Rakic, learn how to create a weaving booklet.
Double sheets are used, into which loose pages are woven. The loose pages are secured with thin strips of sturdy paper. The paper we will use includes Gampi, which is made from the bark of the Abacá tree. Gampi paper resembles fabric and can also be used for embroidery.
Aaldert de Lange was immersed in a love for books and bookbinding from a young age. At eleven, he already helped his parents with the sale of books in their antiquarian bookstore. Because his father repaired books with Bison glue, which caused the book to no longer open, Aaldert learned bookbinding. In addition to teaching workshops and selling bookbinding materials and tools, he also repairs books at the Bookbinding Center in Echten.
For over 20 years, Tanja Rakic has been involved in offering courses and workshops in bookbinding. She also enjoys organizing bookbinding-related events and trips, such as a workshop at the Abbey of Berne and the Bookbinding Fair in Sint-Niklaas (Belgium).
Boektotaal is a bookbinding and restoration studio located at the Bookbinding Center in Echten (Drenthe province). Boektotaal specializes in offering various bookbinding-related workshops and courses (also on location), and they sell everything related to hand bookbinding, including various tools, decorative papers, folding bones, bookbinding glue, and linen for covering books.
Bookbinding also involves working with leather. Working with leather for making book covers is not easy, but Karli Frigge developed a technique for a binding completely made of leather, that is quite straightforward. Under the guidance of Aaldert de Lange, you will create a notebook.
Three sections are sewn together to form a book block and then covered with a leather cover. The sections are sewn onto leather bands that will be visible on the cover later. The result is a sturdy and flexible notebook.
Aaldert de Lange has had a passion for books and bookbinding since childhood. At eleven, he was already helping his parents with the sale of books in their antiquarian bookstore. Because his father repaired books with Bison glue, causing the books to no longer open properly, Aaldert decided to learn bookbinding. In addition to giving workshops and selling bookbinding materials and tools, he also restores books at the Bookbinding Center in Echten.
For over 20 years, Tanja Rakic has been involved in offering courses and workshops in bookbinding. She also enjoys organizing bookbinding-related events and trips, such as a workshop at the Abbey of Berne and the Bookbinding Fair in Sint-Niklaas (Belgium).
Boektotaal is a bookbinding and restoration studio located at the Bookbinding Center in Echten (Drenthe province). Boektotaal specializes in offering various bookbinding-related workshops and courses (also on location), and they sell everything related to hand bookbinding, including various tools, decorative papers, bone folders, bookbinding glue, and linen for covering books.
In the workshop on 17th-century painting techniques, you will be introduced to painting highly realistic works as the old masters did. We will study how paintings were constructed during that time. Corinna will briefly explain this, and then you’ll get hands-on experience. Don’t expect to complete an entire painting, as that would have taken months in the 17th century and still does today, depending on the size and complexity of the piece. However, you will learn how a painting is built up, and we will practice one component, the so-called ‘underdrawing’. We will cover a portion of this technique because it’s too much to complete in the limited time available. Once you get the hang of it, it’s actually quite straightforward. So, everyone can participate regardless of their experience. It’s a technique!
In this workshop, you will get a taste of 17th-century techniques, and we will play around with them so you truly understand the process. You will receive a step-by-step description on how to create an underdrawing to take home. It’s more of an experience that you take with you rather than a finished piece. Of course, you can take your work home afterwards. Since we are using oil paint, it will need time to dry. If your wet work cannot be transported, you may come back to pick it up later at Atelier Wildschut in the NDSM Loods.
Corinna Wildschut has been teaching this beautiful craft for 30 years at the Nimeto vocational school in Utrecht and at her own Atelier Wildschut in the NDSM Loods. Her mother, also a faux painter, introduced her to the craft from a young age. Besides teaching, she actively practices this art with a variety of assignments. In addition to decorative painting, she creates murals and ceiling paintings. She also restores stucco ceilings and ornaments, mirror frames, and other antique objects.
In this masterclass, you will be introduced to the craft of historical painting techniques. This craft includes imitating wood and marble, tortoiseshell and gemstones, as well as lettering, gilding, and bronzing.
During this masterclass, we will focus on imitating white Breccia marble. Breccia means “break” or “fracture.” What does white Breccia marble look like? Where is it quarried? How was it used? Why was it imitated in the past? Where can you apply it?
We will start by studying the structure of the marble. What makes it so distinctive? To prepare for this masterclass, you can start by researching and studying examples of white Breccia marble. Perhaps you know places where you can see it in person. This will help you understand better what you will be doing and give you insight into the vast variety that exists.
We will begin with a letter brush and ink on paper. Learning to paint the “veins” is crucial. Mastering this technique is important for realistically imitating marble.
Next, we will start the imitation on primed paper, finished in high gloss or satin (water-based). The imitation involves several layers, which Corinna from Atelier Wildschut will discuss and demonstrate step-by-step.
We will work with acrylic paint. The techniques and materials required will be covered. If time permits, additional techniques will be demonstrated. As with any process, practice makes perfect!
Since acrylic paint dries quickly, you can take your work home immediately. You will receive a description of the imitation technique to take home.
Get acquainted with Cyanotype, a technique from the early days of photography. Developed in 1843 by Sir John Herschel, a British scientist looking for a way to copy his notes, this method, also known as blueprinting, was used for over 100 years to photocopy architectural drawings and designs. Additionally, the technique became world-famous through Anna Atkins, a botanist who used it to document her collection of dried plants in 20 books composed of plant blueprints.
In this workshop, you will follow in the footsteps of Anna Atkins and create a series of botanical blueprints using plants. The base is paper that has been made light-sensitive with a solution consisting of two iron salts. You will arrange fresh plants in a composition, then expose them to UV light. Under the influence of sunlight, the paper changes color. After exposure, you will rinse the paper in water, revealing the characteristic cyan-blue hue. The technique is magical. The workshop allows room for experimentation and the possibility to add text. You will leave with a series of botanical blueprints on paper, in A4 and A5 sizes. If the weather is sunny, we can do the exposure outside.
Jacolien de Jong is an artist who expresses her love and fascination for the beauty of nature in artworks that incorporate plant material from her personal herbarium. When she encountered the botanical images of Anna Atkins, she was captivated by the cyanotype technique. In her cyanotype artworks, she combines photographic images with plants and poetry. In 2023, she collaborated with poet Suzanne van Leendert to create the book “Poetic Blueprint of Nature”. Jacolien aims to keep this traditional photographic copying method alive and inspire others. She shares her knowledge and experience in masterclasses and workshops for amateurs and professionals at her studio in Utrecht and on location.
In this masterclass, you will learn about the rich heritage of the Meghwaad-Gurjar women. You will discover their specific embroidery techniques while uncovering the story behind them, and learning more about their historical connection with the Netherlands.
Under the guidance of experienced craftswoman Geetaben Meriya and translator/facilitator Lipika Bansal from De Textielfactorij, you will master the art of Kutchi embroidery by creating a brooch. The distinctive effect of this colorful embroidery is highlighted when small mirrors, known as abhla, are sewn into geometric and floral patterns. By the end of the masterclass, you will have embroidered a brooch featuring a mirror and cotton embroidery thread.
Women from the Meghwaad-Gurjar community create intricate embroidery for personal use, for their animals, and for their homes. They are known for their technical skill in embroidery. This art is passed down from mother to daughter, characterized by bold colors, dense stitching, the use of mirrors, and an abundance of floral motifs.
Geetaben Meriya learned the embroidery technique and traditional symbolism from her native community as a young girl, from her mother and grandmother. As a sixth-generation embroiderer, she is strongly motivated to preserve and promote Meghwaad-Gurjar embroidery to a diverse audience.
In collaboration with Nieuwenhuijs & Peetoom, young millwright Stan Baltus will give demonstrations of windmill restoration. He will work on a mill blade and gears.
“I am Stan Baltus, 18 years old, I come from Limmen. I am in the final year of my training as a Wood and Restoration Technician. I have been passionate about windmills since I was 2 years old and completed my miller training last year. I am currently in my apprenticeship with the millwrights and hope to make it my profession. This year, I started working as a freelancer and have already taken on several jobs, including work on windmills. Last year, I restored the small mill Het Klaverblad at the Zaanse Schans. The cap needed to be replaced, and several structural beams in the upper house had to be replaced, along with some wood rot repair and painting. Since May, the mill has been operational again. I also completely rebuilt the windmill De Mol in Limmen, which I started working on when I was 12.”
Festival address:
NDSM Loods
NDSM-Plein 85
1033 WC Amsterdam
Postal address:
Stichting Ambacht in Beeld
Kalf 158
1509AH Zaandam
The Netherlands
