The “Partners in a Trading Zone” project of the Ethnographic Museum of the UZH (VMZ) and the PHZH brings together hand embroiderers and programmers to explore the interface between craftsmanship and digital technology. In workshops, the participants worked on embroidery motifs and developed a common language.
A key finding of the project was that programmable embroidery machines cannot replace the craft. “What the hand embroiderer produces, the machine can only imitate,” explains Mareile Flitsch, Director of the VMZ. Machines reproduce patterns, but use a different technique to hand embroiderers, who guide the thread between the front and back, while machines use upper and lower thread. This was particularly evident in the machine imitation of Bedouin embroidery, which was pressed into a rectangular grid, while hand embroidery was more flexible and individual.
Flitsch emphasizes that the project does not aim to pit craftsmanship and digital technology against each other. Rather, it shows that both approaches offer valuable, different perspectives. “If a craft dies out, then this knowledge dies and with it a piece of human history,” says Flitsch. The project promotes exchange and makes it possible to share the knowledge gained with a broad public.
The project “Partners in a Trading Zone – Development of a trading zone between ethnology and computer science in the context of embroidery” is funded in the 2nd project call in the innovation program.