Gedicht over een gebroken brug Possibly 1655 - 1658

Editor: We're looking at "Poem about a Broken Bridge," possibly from 1655-1658, by Gesina ter Borch. It’s a mixed-media piece using drawing, textiles, and paper, with ink calligraphy. The looping border and elegant script give it such a delicate, almost fragile feel. What speaks to you most about how this was made? Curator: What interests me is how ter Borch, through the very act of combining textile work with ink on paper, challenges the established hierarchies of artistic media. Embroidery and needlework were considered 'feminine' crafts, domestic labor. Yet here, these techniques, likely passed down through generations of women in her family, find their place intertwined with the 'high art' of calligraphy. Editor: So the materials themselves are making a statement? Curator: Absolutely. The paper, the ink, even the thread, each carries its own history, its own connotations of value and labor. By uniting them, ter Borch blurs these boundaries and asks us to reconsider what constitutes ‘art’ and who gets to make it. Look at how the poem is literally framed by these looping textile patterns. Editor: It's like she's giving a traditionally feminine craft equal status to the poem itself. Curator: Exactly! It makes you wonder about her workshop, her social circle, the very means of production available to a woman artist in the 17th century. The piece transforms from a simple poem to a material record of a complex negotiation of gender, skill, and artistic ambition. The labor that was spent, for whom, and how were women perceived doing that type of work at this time? Editor: I hadn't thought about the material statement like that before, thanks for your perspective. It changes how I see similar pieces in the future. Curator: And now when *I* look at it, I wonder if some of the script isn't more elaborate simply because of her expertise working with textiles - it looks like thread! Fascinating.