Nyata Collective consists of Asha Victoria and Amber Zara van den Pangaard, Arnhem and Rotterdam-based multi-disciplinary artists, exploring ways to address social topics through collaborative and hands-on textile processes.
Nyata is an Indonesian word for ‘real’ or ‘tangible’ based on facts. With their practice they aim to broaden this definition into a term for merging the invisible and visible into a tangible experience.
As a collective, they dive into different modes of harvesting knowledge by making space for what has been archived in the body: heritage, memories, dreams, daily experiences. They believe that through human and non-human encounters, we can gather personal stories, turning them into interwoven threads of knowledge and skills to move towards a dynamic and circular system centered on community building and reciprocity.
We hosted Batik Workshops at No Other Option Amsterdam and De Voorkamer Utrecht, where we redefine modes of archiving by writing, drawing, and creating stamps. We were amazed to see the creativity blooming from every participant, impactful conversations and the collaboration that can be seen (and felt) from the batik tapestry.
A cyanotype and weaving workshop for the students at Graphic Design ArtEZ Arnhem. We questioned the digital binary system on Instagram and broke the boundaries of information censorship by revealing silences, gaps, trauma, and pain, serving as a space of refusal and resistance. What is inside the margins and who is placed outside?
How can we preserve our memories and reveal gaps within an archive on a tapestry? By embroidering messages and symbols on batik tapestries made with previous workshop participants, we enrich the textile with more encounters and sharing of knowledge. Experimenting with mending and stitching techniques like Sashiko, the result is one large collective tapestry forming as a living archive.
