The Hemp Museum in Sant’Anatolia di Narco displays the entire cycle of transformation of raw hemp and exhibits collections of textiles dating from the 17th to the 20th century. Weaving workshops for adults and children are held here on a regular basis.
Inspired by the Hemp Museum, international artist, Liliane Lijn, has been invited to create a permanent installation for it. In English, spinning has multiple meanings that it does not have in Italian, namely, spinning yarn or thread, thus referencing the main role of the Museo della Canapa, spinning a tall tale and rotating in space. The two Spinning Dolls invoke a many-layered metaphor of the feminine archetype. Conical, skirt-like, dancing dizzily like bodiless whirling dervishes, they suggest the many and varied aspects of creation, from the spinning and weaving of cloth to the fateful Moirae, to the cosmic gyration of atomic particles, planets and entire galaxies. (L. Lijn)
The installation has been created in collaboration with Giovanna Amoroso and Istvan Zimmermann (Plastikart Studio, Cesena).This commission has been supported by the Region of Umbria.
Liliane Lijn was born in New York and lives and works in London. She has worked across media – kinetic sculpture, film, performance and collage – to explore language, mythology and the relationship between light and matter. Internationally exhibited since the 1960’s, Lijn’s works are in numerous collections. Lijn's work will feature in this summer’s major exhibition Beat Generation at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, while her seminal Power Game will be performed at the Southbank on 25 June as part of the Power of Power festival.