“The poetry of an encounter”

Marina Anken is a Swiss designer currently based in Berlin, her work is guided by a socially and environmentally responsible approach. With a strong focus on illustration, textiles and clothing, her creativity aims to research, develop, and contribute to projects with a positive impact.

Participation in the one-month residency at L’Officina was for her an opportunity to interweave some of her great passions, such as textile craftsmanship and illustration with the aim of creating an autobiographical graphic novel.

The archive of Le Cachemirien made up of dresses, Kashmir shawls, saris and other works of textile art entirely handmade, has been for her a mine and a stimulus to reflect and create. From the observation of the works, the conversations and the readings gleaned in the precious library of L’OFFICINA, was born a thoughtful and at times playful illustrated journal in which the young artist relates the stages of a transmission that was equally technical as philosophical, anthropological, and spiritual.

For Rosenda Arcioni Meer, who cares above all that L’OFFICINA should be a laboratory of the imagination for young people, working with Marina Anken was the materialization of her desire to transfer knowledge and experience and compare them with the perceptions of the new generations. 

Support for creativity and imagination are the cornerstone of L’OFFICINA’s mission, and transmission consists in passing from one person to another, from one generation to another, the trust in our ability to create and transform, producing harmonious communities, beauty and opportunities. We wish Marina to return to Umbria with copies of her graphic novel under her arm and sign them for us.