TEX DESIGN: Ascendant
ASCENDANT is the result of Tex Design, a Fedustria initiative that connects Belgian textile companies with creative talent, in collaboration with Designregio Kortrijk and POM West Flanders. This year, designer and artist Charbel Abou Zeidan was selected, and De Poortere Frères, B&T Textilia, Green Street Fabrics, Ragolle Rugs, Sofa Cover, Bekaert Deslee and the social enterprise AAROVA collaborated on the project.
ASCENDANT is on display at the WONDER Festival and can be visited from 27 October to 8 November at ONE BROEL, Guido Gezellestraat 4,
Kortrijk.
Eighteen flags rise like monuments, suspended in a state of ascent, between pride and collapse.
Born from the textile traditions of Flanders, each surface carries the memory of touch, labour, devotion, and power. Flags have long embodied nations, unions, victories, and desire; here, they shift into something more fragile, almost mortal.
Scaled beyond the human body, the textiles overwhelm the space, inviting the viewer to wander beneath colour, weight, texture, and movement.
Appointed by Fedustria to highlight the absolute pinnacle of Belgian textile craftsmanship and partnered with Designregio Kortrijk and POM West-Flanders to ensure this ambitious vision was flawlessly organized and powerfully exposed. Together, we united six premier companies and six distinct techniques, weaving eighteen unique identities into one collective landscape of rising forms.
The installation unfolds as a tactile architecture; immersive, sensual, and ceremonial in its vertical pull.
Yet within this grandeur lingers the inevitability of disappearance. Smoke drifts through the exhibition as digital apparitions: ghost-flags born from scanned textiles, dissolving like ruins after fire.
What survives when symbols burn? What remains after glory, industry, or empire fades?
Between monument and ashes, the work opens toward renewal, where ascent continues in new and unexpected forms.
ASCENDANT is the result of Tex Design, a Fedustria initiative that connects Belgian textile companies with creative talent, in collaboration with Designregio Kortrijk and POM West Flanders. This year, De Poortere Frères, B&T Textilia, Green Street Fabrics, Ragolle Rugs, Sofa Cover, Bekaert Deslee and the social enterprise AAROVA took part in the project. The creative studio Prismax designed the visual content that takes the experience of the installation to the next level.
Sébastien Hylebos
Sébastien is responsible for circular economy and textile projects in collaboration with companies and designers. He is also responsible for providing general support to the organisation.
