Otti Berger. Weaving for Modernist Architecture

In the 1930s, the textile designer Otti Berger (1898–1944) created fabrics for modernist architecture which continue to fascinate us today. Her designs are characterised by an impressive interplay of aesthetics, function and technical innovation which have fundamentally changed our notion of what textiles can be and do. As of 1927, Otti Berger studied and taught at the Bauhaus, and after 1932, began working freelance. She worked for customers across the European continent and secured numerous patents.

In cooperation with the Bauhaus-Archiv, the visual artist Judith Raum teamed up with weaver and textile designer Katja Stelz to analyse Otti Berger’s fabrics as part of a multiyear research project. The interdisciplinary research process ultimately culminated in a richly illustrated publication entitled “Otti Berger – Weaving for Modernist Architecture”, which presents a broad overview of Berger’s works to the public for the first time. Judith Raum approaches Berger’s work by classifying the fabrics according to their function and relationship to architectural elements, such as furniture, windows, walls and floors. In collaboration with photographer Uta Neumann, new colour photos were produced for the book which capture the beauty and sophistication of Berger’s fabrics as never before.

Judith Raum’s installation at the temporary bauhaus-archiv allows visitors to sensually experience Otti Berger’s works. The installation features a new video piece alongside two large-scale, tapestries which have been fastidiously reconstructed for the exhibition. The tapestries highlight central aspects in Otti Berger’s life, for example, her efforts to protect her technically exquisite fabrics with patents and her private fate as a Jew living in the National Socialist dictatorship.

Exhibiton architecture: Ilke Penzlien