Go back home Meditation on global wool trade and its supply chain (To begin the meditation, take off your shoes and make yourself comfortable on the rugs.) Lay down. Focus on your breath. Breathe in.... And breathe out… The fibres are densely spun and the smell is intense. Touch the soft hair. Sheep grew this wool while grazing lush Alpine meadows. Take a moment to notice how your body feels. Notice areas of tension.... which parts of your body itch… The beats repeat the sound of strong machines controlled by sweaty workers milking, scouring, carding, spinning, tufting ... Marinate in their or your sweat .. Flax had been used around the Mediterranean since the palaeolithic... whereas wool had been introduced from the near east only around 3500BC, late in the Neolithic… Count until 3500… Turn your attention to your breathing. Slowly, deeply in..... and out..... in.... out.... At that time we see a shift towards killing the animals at an older age. (In…) Evidence for this are remains of old castrated males, who cannot have been used for milk, only for wool. These wethers, in fact, produce the best fleeces of all… (Out…) In.... one..... In..... two.... In.... three..... In..... four.... In.... five..... Count the sheep but don’t fall asleep... Because remains of wool are scarce, the textile tools provide some important information about its history. Around 3000BC spindle whorls transformed shape from discoid to bi-conical…. Why don’t you try that … Changing shape with your mind... As your attention drifts, focus again on your breathing... Specialized textile manufacture developed through intensification of production rather than through new technology. Intensify your focus. Keep counting on your own... It’s 1890 in Bradford UK, the corridor in the wool-exchange is narrow, intense beams of light enter from the windows that surround the central nave and illuminate the long tables on which the fingers of the best wool sorters in England move quickly… You move your fingers through the machine errors while listening to the industrial beat slowly fading... Breath… If you lose count, simply start again at one. Bradford’s wool exchange currently houses a Starbucks. It’s Black Friday and groups of teenagers crowd those cramped spaces leaning over their smartphones with large cups with their names written on them… scribbled... In one… two... three… ….. Now simply relax for a few moments. Just be. (pause) Meditate! on globalization... What about the thousands of sheep stuck in the Suez canal? When you have returned to your normal level of wakefulness, you can return to your usual activities, keeping with you a feeling of calm––with an occasional itch. by Evi Olde Rikkert exhibition text of Meditation on Global Wool Trade and its supply chain, Villa Romana, 2021