About Me

Since Hanne Van obberghen was six years old she attended part-time art education at the Jan Van Eyck school in charming Bruges, her hometown. In 2004, when she was 18, Hanne graduated in Latin-Mathematics in a higher-secondary school in Bruges.


After this diploma she decided to study to become a creative designer. Looking around for a proper faculty she saw the looms of Sint-Lucas Hogeschool in Ghent and immediately fell in love with them. The decision was to study textile design. Education in Sint-Lucas included both applied design and artistic activities. Soon it became clear for Hanne that she wanted to focus on the applied part - it is her life and future.


Sint-Lucas didn’t offer a lot applied courses as abstract art is the main focus of this school. Hanne looked for a more applied school. Therefore Häme Polytechnic in Hämeenlinna in Finland turned out to be the right place for a half year Erasmus scholarship. This was her first encounter with Scandinavian design, which influenced all her later creations.


In Finland she learned working with a hand jacquard loom and a computer-controlled loom. Students were allowed to weave their final designs on an industrial loom. The cold climate and lots of snow made her become friends with the wool material, which she uses ever since in different applications. Another lesson she learned in Finland was about felting techniques. This Finnish experience inspired her final year research in Sint-Lucas art school. Part of research material came from internship in Keskusta-fabrics company in Switzerland, where she spent more then one month in early 2008. In Keskusta again she had the chance to work on a Finnish computer-controlled loom.



In the summer of 2008, after she graduated, her traveller’s spirit brought her to Norway for another one month practical training in the company Gudbrandsdalens Uldvarefabrik AS. She was happy to be and work in Scandinavia again. Carte blanche on a jacquard loom with woollen warp resulted in a new variety of designs and experience. Gudbrandsdalens Uldvarefabrik AS does everything from fibre to finished textile therefore Hanne could observe the entire process and also use the big industrial machines to felt her fabrics in different programs the professional way. Many nice woollen textile designs were born.


Currently she works as designer for carpet manufacturer Limited Edition in Moeskroen.