Yaxuma
1968
Textile of the collection “Mexikana”

Since I have been professionally involved with the fabrics of the Pausa company for many years, I would like to present here one of the numerous fabric samples that Andreas Felger has designed for the company. It is the design “Yaxuma” from the collection “Mexico”. Andreas Felger had already achieved a surprising success in 1964 with the “Africana” collection. A coarse linen-like fabric was printed with ethnological motifs, at that time something completely new in the field of decorative fabrics produced in Europe. Just in time for the Olympics in Mexico (1968), the company once again turned to an ethnological theme. According to his own statement, Andreas Felger then delved deeply into the regional studies and iconography of South America. The result is a collection based on Aztec symbols and ornaments that is also quite successful internationally and whose colourfulness seems to anticipate the artist’s current works. The “Yaxuma” design also shows Felger’s mastery of the repeat that is indispensable for decorative fabrics – a constantly repeating pattern without the viewer noticing it. A technique that still shines through in his current works and always reminds me of the artist’s former training and work as a textile designer.

by Hermann Berner