In the fabric realm of Claudia Hill

Many threads come together at Claudia Hill: She does performance art, costume and set design, experimental film, visual art. And above all, she works with fabric. You can see that in her studio, too, because there are beautiful, special textiles to be discovered everywhere.

Claudia has had a fondness for fabric and textiles for a very long time. In her studio hangs an embroidered picture of a bird she made when she was 8; she was in 2nd grade then. Since then, she's been weaving, embroidering, knitting, sewing - and painting pictures with fabric. We want to know: Why actually fabric?

She tells us that she is always fascinated by how delicate a single thread is, how quickly it can tear and break. But when many individual threads come together and are woven together, they form a solid unit and are very strong. (She also has to think of us humans and how much we can accomplish when we join together). Also, the special thing about fabric for her is that all people (big and small, poor and rich) have textiles - because fabric is everywhere. Claudia loves to work with fabrics that have a story, that she gets as a gift and can reuse.

Claudia recently became the owner of a large, 125-year-old wooden loom. Two people can weave on it at a time - and today we get to try our hand at it.

With a so-called shuttle, we thread denim strips from cut-up pants between the taut threads. The feet press a pedal, while the hands put the new row in a bow. Then it's time to see if the second person is ready, so that together we can pull down the weaver's reed, a kind of comb. Then the feet press the other pedal and we can continue with the next row. We quickly realize: You have to concentrate hard and weaving on the loom is real teamwork. But Claudia also appreciates that very much, because she likes to work together - and often - with other people for projects

Then Claudia tells us about her poncho project: In 2011 she wove a poncho within a few weeks. Afterwards, she invited artists to take the poncho home and do something with it. The poncho traveled from person to person around the world: It has been danced and performed in, it has been part of celebratory dinners and photo shoots, it has been written about, painted with... it has really experienced a lot. Claudia collected all the photos, emails and texts and made a book out of them. It tells what happened in 10 years from the poncho's point of view.

Now the good piece is back in Berlin and back in Claudia's studio - with all its stories. Will the poncho reveal them when you wear it?! It feels a bit like that.