Both a notebook and fabric can be checkered. And check can be very different even though the pattern is made up of regularly intersecting vertical and horizontal lines.

In the collection of the Central Museum of Textiles in Łódź there are many checkered objects. These include the workers’ scarf with the pattern in question. It was used by women working in industrial plants of Łódź in the 19th and the first half of the 20th century.

Simple, inconspicuous, yet very practical, warm and durable. It served both as a headscarf and to cover the shoulders. It protected against the cold and dust. And even though particular scarves differed slightly from each other, they were all checkered!

The workers’ scarf has provided the starting point for an exhibition that will inaugurate the exhibition space in the recently renovated summer villa forming part of the Museum. It is a place intended primarily for children and those around them - parents, carers, teachers.

The exhibition will feature works by artists and designers inspired by the checkered scarf and created especially for the occasion. The invited artists refer to the form and function of the workers’ scarf in a variety of ways. Scarves from the Museum’s collection will be presented, too, along with an invitation to look for them in the permanent exhibitions in the Museum’s other buildings.

The exhibition fits into the villa’s architecture, emphasising its unique character. The works enter into a relationship with the space, playing with the light and the rooms’ functions. The interior and the works invite visitors to relax, to spend time together freely. The ultimate effect is conducive to conversation and creative exchange within a family circle.

participants: Iwona Chmielewska, Monika Drożyńska, Pani Jurek, Magdalena Karpińska, Kosmos Project

curator: Magdalena Kreis

creative producer, project coordinator: Magdalena Gonera

executive producer: Teofila Włodarczyk

graphic identity: Studio Lekko