Natasha Herman

At any given moment you can find Natasha Herman in her atelier, wearing one of two hats. Her first hat she wears when she is restoring and conserving antiquarian books for book collectors, booksellers, libraries and museums. As a book conservator, she is responsible for the material care and repair of Western book heritage. Redbone Bindery, the enterprise in which this work happens, was established in Amsterdam in 2002 and is now situated in Paterswolde, a village in the north of the Netherlands.

Her second hat bears the name STILT. A sister company to Redbone Bindery, STILT is responsible for the design, manufacture and marketing of a modular book support system to facilitate the safe display of antiquarian books. Since the dawn of the internet, physical books have experienced an identity shift from containers of information to objects of cultural heritage. STILT provides them with the pedestals they deserve so that they can perform this new role with beauty and grace.

Alongside these craft enterprises, Natasha has been teaching about heritage material culture and conservation ethics to students and colleagues alike at cultural institutes around the globe. She has taught at the National Library of Australia, the Museum of Civilisation and the National Gallery in Canada and Auckland City Libraries. In addition to this, she facilitates Socratic Dialogues on topics of cultural heritage care at the Reinwardt Academy in Amsterdam, The Rijksmuseum, The Utrecht Academy of Arts and the University of Amsterdam. Natasha studied philosophy of culture at the Royal University of Groningen and holds a degree in art and industrial design from Concordia University in Montreal. She trained in Socratic Dialogue facilitation under the tutelage of Kristof van Rossem and Hans Bolton.

At first glance it might seem that making and fixing things and thinking about how we make and fix things are two completely different activities, but Natasha sees a striking and important parallel between the two. We build our metaphysical world of ideas, thoughts and beliefs the same way that we build our physical world. If it is true that we build both of these worlds, then it follows that we have the power to make changes in both of these worlds. When our material things aren’t working well for us, we make alterations to improve their functionality. Similarly, if our thoughts are standing in our way or if certain ideas and beliefs are making it difficult for us to find common ground with friends, colleagues or community, these too can be altered to benefit ourselves and our relationships. But in order to begin this process, we must first become aware of what it is that is standing in our way. Socratic Dialoguing trains us to reveal our own thoughts, first to ourselves and then outwards to the group by way of effective communication and listening skills. Together, with the guidance of Natasha, the group works to clear a little patch of common ground in the metaphysical world of ideas and beliefs. Perhaps this little patch of common ground in the moment is all we need.