Anni’s Loom

In this short film by Alberto Amoretti and Giovanni Hänninen, weaver Addison Walz demonstrates Anni Albers's Flensburg countermarch loom in action. When Albers left Germany for the United States in 1933 she brought the 7 ft. loom with her. She used the loom in the weaving workshop at Black Mountain College to produce some of her major works, including the wallhangings Ancient Writing and Monte Alban. The loom traveled with Albers to New Haven in 1950. In 1961, she sold it to her student Dolores Dembus Bittleman, who continued to use it for years. The loom is now in the collection of the Albers Foundation. It has been refurbished and is used by resident weavers and artists, creating a link between Anni Albers's legacy and contemporary textiles.