During this masterclass, you will dive into the rich world of late Gothic pressed brocade. You will create a brocade sheet yourself based on a 15th-century example and discover how luxurious silk fabrics with gold and silver threads were imitated in relief in the past.

Step by step, you will learn to work with an engraved mold and tin foil to create a refined textile relief. Next, you will gild the surface with gold leaf and finish it with transparent or opaque pigment layers in deep red, green, or blue tones. Through hatching and painting techniques, you will mimic the shimmer of woven gold threads.

You will work with authentic materials and professional tools provided. At the end of the day, you will take home a self-made sheet of pressed brocade — a tangible result of a centuries-old artisanal technique.

This masterclass is offered by the Academy of Visual & Audiovisual Arts Anderlecht. In the Art Craft Polychromy studio at the Academy of Visual & Audiovisual Arts Anderlecht (ABKA), you will discover historical painting and decoration techniques in all their richness. You will learn to work with traditional techniques such as gilding and silvering with leaf metals, and apply methods such as pastiglia, pressed brocade, sgraffito, punching, and gemstone imitations.

You will develop skills not only to technically execute these decorative finishes, but also to recognize, analyze, and reproduce them. Within the studio, you can delve into heritage conservation and restoration or choose a contemporary track in which experimentation and personal visual language take center stage. Throughout the learning process, you will build a personal portfolio in which all technical steps, material research, and artistic evolution are carefully documented.

Sandy van Wissen (1968) works in various capacities within the cultural heritage sector in Belgium. She works hands-on with the conservation, research, and restoration of polychrome sculpture at a federal non-profit institution in Brussels. In addition, she is employed part-time as a teacher of Art Crafts in Polychromy, where both historical and modern decoration techniques are taught, and serves as Pedagogical Coordinator. The program is offered as Part-Time Art Education in Anderlecht.