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RETHINKING TEXTILE WASTE: MIST & TWIST

The international summer symposium TEXTILE KULTUR HASLACH 2026 was themed ‘RETHINKING TEXTILE WASTE’. It explored current issues surrounding overproduction and recycling, examines our approach to fast fashion and production waste from the textile industry, and focused on ideas that view waste as a valuable resource. A number of exhibitions, lectures and supporting events explored various facets of this complex topic.

MIST! Rethinking textile waste!

How can new textiles be created from old clothes? How can waste generated by the textile industry be transformed into innovative products? And what ideas are there for making good use of materials resulting from overproduction? Every textile is the result of a complex process: from fibre extraction and yarn production to fabric manufacturing and garment assembly, there are many individual steps involved, each requiring extensive knowledge of materials and manufacturing techniques.
In Austria, around 220,000 tonnes of textile waste are generated annually. Around three-quarters of this ends up directly in general waste. This means that not only are all the skills embodied in these materials being discarded, but also vast quantities of raw materials and valuable resources. A large proportion ends up in Africa, where the environmental and social consequences of global textile consumption are felt particularly acutely.
The exhibition “Mist! Rethinking Textile Waste” offers an insight into a young generation of textile designers and activists who are tackling all these challenges with courage and fresh ideas. They are developing concepts that respond to fast fashion through swapping, repairing, upcycling or zero-waste strategies. Young designers are exploring “waste” as a resource for new possibilities and eliciting a refreshingly new aesthetic from it. The exhibition showcases innovative recycling

Special Exhibition Gallery, Haslach Textile Centre
Opening: Mon 20 July, 7.30 pm
Duration: Tue 21 July 2026 – Sun 4 April 2027

Opening hours:
July – October: Tue – Sun, 10 am – 4 pm
November – April: Thu – Sun, 10 am – 4 pm
Weaver’s Market weekend: Fri, 4 pm – 8 pm, Sat, 9 am – 6 pm, Sun, 9 am – 5 pm

Exhibition evenings:
Fri, 24 July, 4 pm – 8 pm
Mon, 27 July, 5.30 pm – 8 pm

Participating artists & designers:

• Biofabrique Vienna

• Lisa D. / Bis es mir vom Leibe fällt

• Gerald Brandstätter

• Joanna Czekajlo

• Sara Hassoune

• Paula Holzhauser

• JUNELE

• Shirin Kara

• Maori Kimura

• Hedda Sophie Korthals

• Amy Lewis

• manaomea

• Anna Mooren

• Magdalena Orland

• PETERSENBOISSEL

• Simone Post

• Eva Siebert

• pre•matter (Kristin Nebauer & Anne Richter)

• Virginia Reil

• ReWeave (Kirsty McDougall)

• Luise Schumacher

• Sheworks Atelier

• (un)woven studio

• Urban Fibers

• Tim van der Loo

• Lara Sohreh Wernert (13Rugs by Rohi)

TWIST - Art from Waste !

Selvedges, leftover yarn, fibre fluff, scraps of fabric, old clothes, bits of felt, ends of ropes, hoses, straps and much more! What a treasure trove of unique materials, striking colours, intriguing shapes and textured surfaces! What is simply rubbish to many can be a source of inspiration for others!

The exhibition “Twist. Art from Waste!” showcases free, experimental works across the eight floors of the Haslach church tower, using various textile waste materials to formulate unique forms of expression and artistic statements. Whether quilts made from old clothes, tapestries from old soft toys, garment-like objects from shredded fabrics, oversized weaves, woven pieces or felt objects – there are no limits to the imagination!

Alongside works by invited artists, the exhibition is brought to life above all by contributions from students at the University of Art and Design Linz and other educational institutions, who offer a young, fresh perspective on the theme and reveal new potential and meanings for resources that often seem useless.

Haslach church tower
Opening: Mon 20 July, 7.30 pm
Preview: Mon 20 July, 5–7 pm
Duration: Mon 20 July – Sat 15 August 2026

Opening hours: Thu–Sat, 4–7 pm
Weaver´s Market weekend: Fri, 4 pm – 9 pm, Sat, 9 am – 6 pm, Sun, 9 am – 5 pm
Haslach Day on Sat, 1 August: 1 pm – 7 pm

Participating artists:

• Gerald Brandstätter

• Helga Chibidziura

• Joanna Czekajlo

• Ilona Eidinger

• Maryam Farhang

• Samin Ghoochi

• Lukas Greiderer

• Svea Handle

• Deborah Hazler

• Daniel Henry

• Natalie Hutterer

• Woonji IM

• JUNELE

• Laura Keller

• Jasmin Khalmuratova

• Marilies Luger

• Alina Meichelbeck

• Julia Moser

• Klara Neuber

• Anouk Ava Oltmanns

• Martina Öttl

• Anko (A. Rachmad)

• Nicolas Rueda Blanco

• Marlene Viktoria Steiner

• Gabriella Tegze

• Gaia Tovaglia

• Mia Trotz

• Bram van Breda

• Femke van Gemert

• Meta Vouk

• Ida Amanda Wagenhofer

Dipdii Textiles. Textile Nachhaltigkeit aus Bangladesch

The “Dipdii Textiles” exhibition at the Galerie im Gwölb showcases unique textile pieces from Bangladesh that combine traditional craftsmanship with sustainability and social responsibility. On display are handmade wall hangings and functional textiles made from recycled saris and fabrics, which are transformed into artistic, one-of-a-kind pieces using traditional embroidery techniques such as Nakshi-Kantha embroidery. Each piece tells a story of memory, cultural identity and the realities of life for the women involved.
Dipdii Textiles sees itself as an alternative to the global fast-fashion industry. Instead of standardised mass production, the project relies on local resources, craftsmanship and decentralised production in rural communities in Bangladesh. This not only results in high-quality textiles, but also creates new economic opportunities for local families.
The project was initiated by architect Anna Heringer and master tailor Veronika Lena Lang in collaboration with the Bangladeshi NGO Dipshikha. Creative direction, design and project management are handled by fashion designer ELKE BURMEISTER HAUG and her label Ökutür. As part of the exhibition, Elke Burmeister-Haug offers insights into the background of the project and demonstrates how textile production can be organised in a sustainable and people-centred way

For more information:  www.dipdiitextiles.org

Galerie im Gwölb
Marktplatz 15
Opening: Wednesday 22 July, 6.00 pm
Duration: Thursday 23 July – Saturday 22 August 2026

Opening hours: Fri 2.00 – 4.00 pm, Sat 10.00 am – 12.00 pm
Weavers’ Market weekend: Sat, 9 am – 6 pm, Sun, 9 am – 5 pm
Haslach Day on Sat, 1 August: 10 am – 12 pm & 1 pm – 3 pm
Exhibition evening: Wed, 29 July, 5.30 pm – 8 pm

Besides two, three is the thing in the world

Open Studio and Exhibition by Selina Gasser, CH & Karoline Pöhn, AT

The space between two things is never empty. Tension arises between threads, relationships between bodies, meaning between voices. The visible is supported by something that eludes us yet remains potent. The exhibition explores this in-between space. Based on two artistic positions, the third is understood as a resonant space – as a connection that arises through contact.
Karoline Pöhn and Selina Gasser work with textile scraps and waste materials as carriers of memory, closeness and social inscription. Threads become relationships, tears become traces, fragments become clues to the invisible. The third occurs within and between the works.
During the three weeks, the artists will not only be exhibiting at the Hainberger workshop, but will also be using the space as an open studio, inviting visitors to become part of this process. On Thursday, 30 July, the two artists invite you to a closing event and a hands-on workshop from 6 pm. In an open, experimental setting, interested participants are invited to develop their own textile object using by-products of the textile industry and other materials, to explore the resources together in a playful way, to intuitively sharpen their perception and to engage in dialogue with one another.

SELINA GASSER lives and works in Basel. She studied textile.art.design at the University of Art and Design Linz (MA 2024), textile design in Basel (2018) and primary school teaching in Lucerne (BA 2014). Residencies have taken her to Mexico and Peru.
KAROLINE PÖHN lives and works in Linz. She studied Textile Art Design (MA 2025) and Fashion & Technology (BA 2020) at the University of Art and Design Linz. Her work has been recognised with awards such as the FORUM Alumni Prize 2025, the Edison Prize 2022 and the AFA Start Scholarship 2020.

Further information:
www.selinagasser.com
www.karolinepoehn.art

Werkstatt Hainberger
Marktplatz 21
Duration: Tue 21 July – Sat 1 August 2026
Opening hours: Tue – Thu, 1 pm – 6.30 pm; Fri, 5 pm – 7 pm
Weavers’ Market weekend: Sat & Sun, 12 noon – 5 pm
Haslach Day on Sat, 1 August: 12 noon – 5 pm
Closing event with hands-on activity: Thu, 30 July, 6 pm

ZYKLEN

The Last of Their Kind – Moroccan Tribal Rugs Made from Textile Scraps from menzel.galerie, Vienna
Gabriele Hain, Porcelain
Alois Hain, Painting

For two decades, Renate Anna Menzel has been collecting and exhibiting artefacts from a vanishing world of nomads and settled peoples. In the summer of 2026, she will be showing a selection of her Moroccan Boucheraouite (‘scrap’) carpets at Galerie Hain AG, alongside porcelain by Gabriele Hain and paintings by Alois Hain.

As is the case throughout the world, rural areas in Morocco are undergoing profound change. Throughout history, women’s textile craftsmanship has drawn on the resources of a self-sufficient way of life, the skilful processing of sheep’s wool, and the tribes’ large flocks. Yet today, due to migration and the abandonment of traditional ways of life, there is a shortage of this bountiful material. Hand-spun wool has become a precious commodity. In its place, the second-hand clothes of our Western consumer society are flooding the country’s markets, providing the weavers with new raw material. Cut into strips, as we are familiar with from our own patchwork rugs, the fabric is woven and knotted with resilience in the comfort of their homes. The Moroccan women have thus succeeded in providing wonderful proof of the enduring creative vitality of an ancient folk culture. The result is carpets imbued with a wholly unique and fresh, life-affirming energy.  Whenever there were still remnants available, the wool—the processed fleece of the animals—was a precious component. For therein lay the tradition of the ancestors, the worldview of grandmothers and mothers. Today, the hype of the markets is also attempting to co-opt these carpets, known as boucheraouite (= rags), from recent decades to a greater or lesser extent. Meanwhile, marketing is even relying on AI-designed production, provided it bears the ‘recycled’ label. How will the creative women of Morocco, in continuing their folk culture, now respond to this independently?

Further information:
www.hainag.com
www.menzelgalerie.com

Galerie Hain AG WERK + RAUM
Sternwaldstraße 10

Duration: Tue, 21 July – Sat, 1 August 2026
Opening hours: Tue, 21 & Tue, 28 July: 5:30–7 pm
Weavers’ Market: Sat, 1–6 pm, Sun, 1–5 pm
Haslach Day on Sat, 1 August: 12–2 pm
and by appointment: +43 7289 72035