Textile designer Claudy Jongstra was recently awarded the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds Prize for Applied Arts and Architecture. The award comprises 50 000 euro in prize money and was presented on November 25 in the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ in Amsterdam by Princess Margriet of The Netherlands.
Jongstra is best known for her innovative work with felt, combining the wools of different animals with silks, cottons, linens and coloured with natural vegetable dyes to create an intriguingly structured fabric. Her designs have been used worldwide in fashion by designers such as John Galliano, Donna Karan and Christian Lacroix and in architectural installations in MoMa, the Dutch embassy in Berlin and Amsterdam Public Library. The jury praised the autonomous and independent course of her work which is produced with utmost consideration for the environment. Past recipients of the prize include Jurgen Bey, Alexander van Slobbe and Gijs Bakker.