By Gerda van der Stroom - de Jong.

After some years of experimenting with leather, finding out the possibilities of this material, originated the idea to get together leatherartist/leatherworkers to have an exhibition.

This idea came to life in 1990.
The first INTERNATIONAL LEATHERART AND CRAFT EXHIBITION was held at the cultural centre "De Dobber" in Kortenhoef, The Netherlands. Directly international by personal participation of leatherartists/craftsmen from The Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium and because of leatherwork sent to us from the USA, Canada, France, Mexico and Lithuania.

One piece of leatherwork was very special: a leathercarving from the world’s most wellknown artists All and Ann Stohlman from the U.S.A., authors of several books on leathercraft and art. It was for the first time that a piece of art from these great artists was shown at an exhibition in Europe and Holland was the European first..

After this succesful meeting with about 2500 visitors on the only open day to the public, it was decided to meet every year by having a small meeting for the national artists/craftmen with or without visitors from abroad and once every five years an extended international event.

The set-up of these annual meetings is without an exhibition.
However the participants take recent work with them to show their progress, their technique, working-method and to encourage and to learn from each other.
These annual meetings are foremost a festive day for renewing friendships and meeting new leatherworkers, a great day with some workshops, demonstrations or whatever is organized for that day.

Many meetings have already followed 1990.
To mention a few.
- At the leathercompany Fa. H. Schueler, with a tour through the tannery.
- In Langelille at one of the leatherworkers homeground in a huge barn with an old restored coach and two tipi’s outside, decorated in indian style. All to go with a demonstration on how to use a whip.
- Or at the "Leder en Schoenenmuseum" in Waalwijk, with a tour through the museum and a presentation from a guest from Australia who was telling us about working with kangaroo leather.

Quit a lot is happened in those 12 years of promoting leather as an art/craft material. In the Netherlands this promotion has been done by Gerda van der Stroom. Looking into the future is not possible but we are hopefull a lot will be happening, in which LEATHER as material will have an important part to play.

There will be several exhibitions in the nearby future in the museum as well as in galleries. We will keep you posted on our information page on this site.