Dutch artist Afra Eisma’s textile art on display in Bengaluru, signalling defiance, resistance

Eisma, who was part of the #MeToo campaign in the Netherlands aimed at exposing sexual exploitation in the arts, said she has transformed her emotions into textile installations made from silk, organza, and other fabrics.

“On the one hand, I had art exhibitions, and at the same time, I was being interrogated by the police as if I were the one doing bad things. I felt a lot of emotions, and these are kind of talked through in these garments. Some of the writings that I wrote in the moment of rage and emotion were too personal, and so the semi-transparent garments allow me to layer them,” she said.

Her textile artworks have been in the works for several years, with the first one in 2021. Eisma said, “Talking about sexual violence can be an isolating experience, but it is quite common. I felt that I wanted to be more explicit about the topic, so that the taboo goes away….almost all women experience it in one way or another.”

Eisma created these artworks from a variety of fabrics, using a mix of hand and machine sewing techniques to create the garments. She noted that the machine-sewn sections were done with a certain “anger” and forceful motion, with the threads at the untrimmed edges being part of the message of the artwork.

The exhibition is open to visitors free of charge at the Museum’s ground floor gallery.