Vlag / Flag #8: Benjamin Mengistu Navet – '100 mins. with Eastman'
ENG
Benjamin is interested in the history of weaving, and the dialogue between industry and craftsmanship, questioning how textiles are produced, and act as carriers of identity. Invited to design a new flag for Stroom’s flagpole, Benjamin decided to collaborate with the pupils of the school to design the monumental flag.
« The aim of the project is to involve the pupils and share my creative process as an artist, from a first session of listening to songs by Afroamerican composer Julius Eastman. Everyone made drawings, which were compiled to create a unique composition displayed on the flag ».
During the summer of 2023, Benjamin was the artist-in-residency at Off the Grid, Cas-co’s residency and presentation platform, during which he started his new research titled « Dear Julius, » a project on the contemporary echo of Julius Eastman.
NL
Benjamin werkt rond de geschiedenis van het weven en de dialoog tussen industrie en ambacht. Hoe wordt textiel geproduceerd en fungeert het als drager van identiteit? Voor zijn nieuwe vlag, die getoond zal worden aan de mast op het schoolplein van Stroom, Benjamin samen met de leerlingen van de school.
« Het doel van het project was om de leerlingen te betrekken en mijn creatieve proces als kunstenaar te delen. Zo luisterden wij tijdens een eerste sessie naar liedjes van de Afro-Amerikaanse componist Julius Eastman. Iedereen maakte tekeningen, die werden samengevoegd tot een unieke compositie op maat van de vlag ».
In de zomer van 2023 was Benjamin artist-in-residency bij Off the Grid, Cas-co’s residentie en presentatieplatform. Hij startte er aan zijn nieuwe onderzoek getiteld “Dear Julius”, een project over de hedendaagse echo van Julius Eastman.

The main focus of the weavings and practice of Benjamin Mengistu Navet is the creation of a dialogue between industry and craftsmanship, in order to question the production process of objects. Based on Navet’s research in post-colonial practices in the field of fashion and textiles, he currently investigates his own Ethiopian background through pattern-making by combining traditional with industrial techniques. He approaches his practice as a laboratory where textile and garments enter in a dialogue or confrontation with other media and images. Whether it is handwoven, or industrially printed, straight from the industrial weaving machine, or revealed by hand dyes, whether it’s for a scenography that reveals the colonial trajectory of a fabric, the Ahmaric alphabet, crossing personal trajectories from diasporas with textile techniques, these embodied narratives are at the center of his research-based practice.






