Photo by Marie Yako
Remember those colourful friendship bracelets you used to make as a kid? Dörte Bundt offers to expand on that childhood skill by teaching Berliners the groovy, decades-old art of macrame at her studio California Dreaming.
Turned on to the craft by her Californian boyfriend, the Berlin-born designer quickly made her hobby into a full-time occupation and now teaches how to make decorative wall and plant hangers using just rope and knots. The workshop we attended fulfilled all our expectations: 10 young women, two of them with growing bellies under flower print shirts, were indulging in some meditative knotting by candlelight while a dog in the corner eyed an ample array of strawberries, croissants and dates that resembled a Baroque still-life.
The mostly-German ladies chatted about animal shelters and Moroccan carpets to a soundtrack of Jefferson Airplane, Neil Young and “Hotel California” as Bundt, appropriately dressed in flares and a satin blouse, calmly offered guidance in German as well as in English.
Yes, it’s pricey for €95 – if it’s only the result you’re after, you’d be better off buying some rope of your own and Googling the two basic knots. But if you have cash to spare for an afternoon in the company of fellow crafty women in a cosy neo-hippy atmosphere (and a workout at the same time – knotting standing up with your arms raised for three hours isn’t easy!), catch Bundt’s next workshop on May 21 at Hallesches Haus.
California Dreaming, next date Sun, May 21, 13:00 | Hallesches Haus, Kreuzberg, more info at www.californiadreamingdesigns.com
