Day 75 - Benita
I’m wrapping up my weeklong dedication to the women of the Bauhaus with Benita Koch-Otte (1892-1976). Benita arrived at the Bauhaus having already spent five years teaching arts and crafts at a girls’ secondary school. During her time at the Bauhaus, Benita worked closely with Gunta Stölzl, using textiles to explore new approaches to abstraction. She continued to teach until the end of her life, and her fabrics are still in production today.
I really loved studying Benita’s work, along with that of the other artists I featured this week who, despite having studied the Bauhaus in university, I’d never come across before. The men of the Bauhaus, such as Wassily Kandinsky, Josef Albers, László Moholy-Nagy and Paul Klee are ubiquitous with modern design and are some of the most celebrated pioneers of modern art. However, the female designers who taught and studied and created along side them are rarely cited, and are remembered instead as the wives of their male counterparts, if at all.
Unfortunately, nearly 100 years later, women are still under-represented in the design community, along with Black people, Indigenous folks, people of colour, and the LGBTQ+ community. As a design leader, and a forever design student, I want to encourage my community to do better. To use our privilege to amplify the voices of these folks and champion them whenever possible, especially those at the intersections of these groups. And hey, maybe in another hundred years, the narrative will have finally shifted.
As I’ve reached the 75 day mark of my challenge I’m pausing to take a bit of a break before moving into the homestretch. Thanks for sticking with me, pals.
