202030 – The Berlin Fashion Summit

Leading international visionaries came together at 202030–THEBERLIN FASHION SUMMIT to shape a meaningful future for fashion 

The first edition of 202030 – THE BERLIN FASHION SUMMIT, which took place as part of Berlin Fashion Week from 21-24 January 2021, strengthened change in the fashion industry and inspired rethinking. Despite the pandemic, the organizer studio MM04 cooperated with Sqetch and the Beneficial Design Institute to facilitate a vivid exchange between high-profile thought leaders and visionaries from fashion, tech, politics, science, business, and the creative industry. The conference had 2155 views by 1468 registered participants from all over the world, including high-class experts such as Amanda Parkes (Pangaia), Amber Jae Slooten (The Fabricant), Bandana Tewari (Journalist), Eva Kruse (Global Fashion Agenda), Matthew Drinkwater (Fashion Innovation Agency), Prof. Dr. Michael Braungart (Cradle to Cradle) who came together to discuss the future of Fashion Culture, Fashion Economy, and Fashion Product.

The 202030 – THE BERLIN FASHION SUMMIT was conceived in two parts, with a non-public working format for professional exchange and vision development and a public part for the translation of the content to a wider audience. The organizers agree that their virtually executed event was a success. The digital platform allowed the participants to connect before the summit, interact with each other during presentations, and exchange expertise after each day. Nearly 900 users took advantage of these networking and chat possibilities. "We are pleased about the vivid and curious exchange within the interactive community and the many questions from the chat that were taken up via the moderators," says Max Gilgenmann from studio MM04. Participants came from France, the United Kingdom, Scandinavia, the Netherlands, the United States, India and Brazil, just to name a few. The 202030 – THE BERLIN FASHION SUMMIT was funded by the Senate Department for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises. “We are delighted to have such an impactful format as 202030 - THE BERLIN FASHION SUMMIT with leading experts in the line up as part of the realigned Berlin Fashion Week focusing on sustainability and digitalization. With up to 1500 registered participants per day and high international participation, the summit has far exceeded our expectations. It is important to me that we now incorporate the findings into our activities," says Ramona Pop, Senator for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises.

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Sustainability is omnipresent and now is a good momentum to put goals into action. The pandemic has shown that most of the system the industry is operating in is dysfunctional. “We cannot continue to evolve under these circumstances and covid-19 has acted like some kind of giant magnifying lens. It has been so obvious that brands increase their profits while owing billions of garment workers in unpaid wages”, highlighted Orsola de Castro from Fashion Revolution. Leading experts agreed that a more sustainable fashion industry is not just the goal of one individual, but the goal of an entire industry. Eva Kruse from the Global Fashion Agenda emphasized in an interview with Magdalena Schaffrin from studio MM04: „Brands are coming together, deciding to fight against the system that has been created. But we also need bold leadership again, and then let that be the vision. And that’s the cool thing about fashion, that it can influence so much – also how we think about the product.“

And fashion goes far beyond the product. The lifestyle journalist and sustainability activist Bandana Tewari from Craft Diplomacy argued that fashion needs more compassion: “It is about understanding that we need to be compassionate human beings to be creators and to be consumers. Compassion and human understanding should also be the choice when we decide what to wear.” A crucial point is that fashion brands have to offer better options. Prof. Dr. Braungart, one of the founders of the Cradle to Cradle design concept, stressed that „Fashion is about holistic beauty. A product that becomes waste has a quality problem and that is not beautiful“. The industry is becoming more and more aware of this new demand: “During the pandemic, we observed that customers start to think more about their choices. Thus, we want to give them more sustainable options”, said Jade Buddenberg from Zalando. 

One of the biggest upcoming shifts in fashion will be from physical to digital fashion and that will change the way we communicate, design, and interact with products. Matthew Drinkwater from the Fashion Innovation Agency in London demonstrated that we are going to a completely new fashion ecosystem, where fashion does not need to be physical to be real. Digital fashion allows designers to show their creations first digitally to the consumers before they start producing physically what would enable them to produce on-demand. Leslie Holden from the Digital Fashion Group pointed out that the new generation of designers needs to be educated on how to use technologies to reshape the industry and use technologies to their advantage: “This is the end of fashion as we know it. Through digital technology, we have so many new opportunities to rewrite how we want the industry to be. For example, I don’t know any fashion school that is teaching designers how to work with big data.”. 

The second edition of the 202030 – THE BERLIN FASHION SUMMIT will take place in summer 2021. For further information please see ​www.202030summit.com 

Instagram @202030summit

202030 – The Berlin Fashion Summit – Fashion Culture > Recap.mp4 from studio MM04 on Vimeo.

202030 – THE BERLIN FASHION SUMMIT is organized by studio MMO4 in cooperation with Sqetch and Beneficial Design Institute. 

studio MM04 is a Berlin-based creative strategy consultancy with an international network that supports companies and organisations in shaping their future with a radical passion for fashionable aesthetics and profound sustainability expertise. 

Sqetch is an innovation agency and IT company that connects fashion brands with producers and suppliers worldwide on their B2B online sourcing platform ​sqetch.co and helps them establish transparent supply chains. Sqetch is based in Berlin and Amsterdam. 

The Beneficial Design Institute GmbH is a design research and development institute for sustainable and circular products with a focus on fashion and textiles. The BD-I researches, develops and tests holistic innovation concepts. It designs fashion, textiles and products from prototypes to series production.

Fashion Makes Sense Award

Fashion Makes Sense Award - In conversation with:

Date: Wednesday 27th of January 2021
Time: 17.00 – 18.00 (GMT +1)
Where: FASHIONCLASH YouTube Channel

Within the context of the 4th edition of the Fashion Makes Sense Award, FASHIONCLASH teamed up with Chanel Trapman of MUMSTER and will host an online live conversation, centered around the topic of sustainability in fashion; not just focusing on environmental aspects but also including wellbeing, emotions, inclusion and identity.

Conversation participants:
- Chanel Trapman (MUMSTER)
- Branko Popovic (FASHIONCLASH)
- Daniëlle Bruggeman (Professor of Fashion, ArtEZ University of the Arts)
- Marian Duff (OSCAM)
- Roosmarie Ruigrok (Clean&Unique, Reflow Project, Green Deal Circulaire Denim)
- Tom van der Borght, multidisciplinary designer

Fourth edition - Fashion Makes Sense Award

 

FASHIONCLASH presents the fourth edition of the Fashion Makes Sense Award, a recurring stimulation prize for a new generation of designers with innovative and sustainable ideas for the future of fashion. Two prizes will be awarded as part of FMSA: a public prize of € 1000 and a jury prize of € 2500. The prize money is intended for the development of a sustainable work.

Finalists will present their work during the Fashion Makes Sense Award Show on Saturday 27^th of February during the digital 12^th edition of FASHIONCLASH Festival. This is an online live event moderated by Anne-Ro Klevent Groen, Marketing and communications director Fashion for Good, Editor-at-Large Sustainability Vogue Netherlands. The online voting for the public award is possible until the online event on the 27^th of February. Both prizes will be announced during the online event.
During the FMSA online event, Liselot Hoekstra recent graduate from HKU University of the Arts Utrecht, will present her project ‘Deadstock Island’.

More information about Fashion Makes Sense Award: www.fashionclash.nl/fmsa-2020

FMSA Finalists are: 

Andrea Grossi - @andreagrossi__

Arí van Twillert - @arivantwillert

ESRA COPUR - @esracopur_

Kevin Pleiter - @kevinpleiter

MARKO FEHER - @markofeher

Mathilde Rougier – @clothstrophobe

MATTHEW NEEDHAM - @matthewneedhamstudio
SANKIM - @sankim_official

Saskia Lenaerts - @lenaerts_saskia

Jury prize panel:
- Alex McIntosh, Creative director at Create Sustain

- Annouk Post, Creative Coach of Sustainable (Fashion) Pioneers 
- Belvis Soler, Co-Founder and CEO Luxiders Magazine, Co-founder of GASS
- Holly Syrett, Senior Sustainability Manager Global Fashion Agenda

- Luciana Duarte, PhD researcher in Production Engineering (Brazil) and in Development Studies (Erasmus University of Rotterdam), founder of Ethical Fashion Brazil.

- Max Gilgenmann, Ceo and Founder studio MM04, Content Director at Neonyt

- Sara Sozzani Maino, Deputy director of Vogue Italia and Head of Vogue Talents, International Brand Ambassador Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana and Goodwill Ambassador Fashion for Development.

Inauguration and fashion symbolism

President-elect Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden, along with Vice President Elect Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff gathered on the National Mall in Washington DC for a COVID Memorial honoring and remembering the more than 400,000 American lives lost to the pandemic so far.
Politics from the big stage has always influenced fashion and the developments in society. Symbolic meanings of clothing and prominent leaders, when properly chosen and with the right intentions, can positively contribute to a better world.
One of the signs that the Biden - Harris administration will be different from its predecessor came in the form of Dr. Biden and Kamala Harris’s attire. Dr. Biden chose a purple wrap coat and paneled dress from the fall 2021 collection of Jonathan Cohen, one of a new generation of American designers who is championing sustainability and responsible design. Purple is one of the Suffragettes’ colors, but more poignantly it’s what you get when red and blue are mixed together. The classic camel coat that Harris chose to wear for the occasion was also a mark of solidarity. The piece is by Pyer Moss-founder Kerby Jean-Raymond, the Black designer who led the way in the fashion industry's response to America's Covid-19 crisis.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stories of hope and Despair, Dirk van Saene

Dirk Van Saene, the Belgian fashion designer and artist, presents his solo exhibition with ceramic sculptures in Gallery Sofie Van de Velde. The exhibition is on show from 16.01.2021 until 21.02.2021 at Nieuw Zuid in Antwerp. 

https://sofievandevelde.be

Tom Van Der Borght - Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin

After taking the grand prize at the 35th edition of prestigious festival in Hyères, Tom Van Der Borght presented his collection (“Seven Ways To Be TVDB / Act 3: A Hopeful Parade”) as part of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in Berlin. For the show in Berlin, he collaborated with Blanca Li, a Spanish dancer and choreographer.

The collection that is part of a long-term artistic project and vision called “7 ways to be TVDB” in which he investigates the idea of non-normativity.
We can sit back, and await the following steps of his artistic vision and whatever will come out of it. And in the meantime, forever treasure the artistry and beauty Tom Van Der Borght has given the (fashion)world.

https://tomvanderborght.com

AnoukxVera & Vlisco&co

AnoukxVera design studio teamed up with Vlisco&co to design a wearable toolkit. The Bulky Body Belt is a wearable toolkit uniquely designed for the kick-off of the Vlisco&co print workshop. 13 Toolkits in 3 colorways have been sent to the selected participants in Accra, Cotonou, Abidjan, Lomé, Lagos and Kinshasa. This toolkit contains a variety of tools and art supplies which form the inspirational start of the design process. The tools can be stored in attachable boxy bags and flashy shapes. Semi transparent materials give a sneekpeek of the creative mindset of the wearer, and become an ever changing pattern on the body.

ANOUKxVERA
Anouk van de Sande and Vera de Pont together form AnoukxVera; a studio focused on print, motion and visual storytelling. The studio operates within the fields of textiles and other materials in the direct environment of the human body. Characteristic of their work is a playful handwriting, which bridges the gap between graphic design and moving imagery. The results tend to be thought-provoking, with a special focus on the sustainability and flexibility of fashion and interior design. 

 More information anout the project: here 

There's No Place Like Home

There's No Place Like Home a project by MAISON the FAUX & Samir Duratovic 

 “There's no place like Home” is a collaboration between the German fashion designer Samir Duratovic and the Dutch creative studio MAISON the FAUX inspired by the drastic change in the way we work together and social distance forced by Covid-19. With this project the makers responded to this current state in our world by giving meaning and creative interpretations how to deal with limitations. 

They have created a package of materials to be used at home within the comfort and boundaries of your home's walls. 

 "We live in a crazy time, where our freedoms are very limited and we are practically trapped in our own home. At the same time, your home is a place where you are completely free to be yourself."

Visit the "THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME" website and find out more about the package.

Winners of the 7th International BIAAF Contest

Katiuscia Gregoire

Katiuscia Gregoire, Kim Yeong-hyeon and Christian Padilla, are named new winners of the 7th International BIAAF Contest for emerging fashion talent.

Outstanding creativity and the future of fashion came together in Bilbao at the 7th Bilbao International Art & Fashion Contest (BIAAF), which awarded its prizes on November 12th in the Edificio Ensanche. This year, the contest has overcome a series of difficulties, and has maintained its firm commitment to young talent and to continuing to generate opportunities, something "now more necessary than ever and decisive in order to offer them a more promising scenario than the current one", as highlighted by the organisation.

More than 1,250 promising young talents, coming from 90 different countries, have taken part in this edition, which announced its awards live with a streaming broadcasted on November 12th, from the Edificio Ensanche in Bilbao.

An exhibition at the Edificio Ensanche, from 12th to 16th November, brought together the works of the 30 finalists. The winners of each category, chosen by an international jury with representatives from the LVMH Fashion Group, Vogue Talents and Balenciaga Museum have competed for the awards.

The 30 finalists have been chosen from among 1,262 proposals, coming from young talents from 90 countries on all 5 continents. Katiuscia Gregoire (Parsons, U.S.A.) was awarded for the 'Best Outfit Design' with her collection “Hood Dandy”. Kim Yeonghyeon (Kookmin University, South Korea) was awarded for the ‘Best Accessory Design' with her collection “Hideey _Dynamics”, both worth 10,000 Euros. In addition, a special prize recognised the work of the 'Best Emerging Basque Designer', Christian Padilla, worth 5,000 Euros with his collection “Huasi”.

Design Academy Eindhoven Graduation Show 2020

Coline Declef
For Your Personal Safety And Security
(c)NicoleMarnati

 

 

In 2020 almost all major design events were affected by Covid-19, which also applies to Dutch Design Week. One of my personal favorite parts is the annual graduation show of Design Academy Eindhoven. 

Projects from all of this year’s graduates can be discovered on the website of Design Academy Eindhoven (DAE), where each student has their own page featuring pictures, written descriptions, podcasts, and the work of all BA and MA students can be browsed alphabetically or by department.

Awarded projects can be found here.

State of Fashion: This is an Intervention

State of Fashion, a platform originated to re-think the fashion system, has announced their activities program containing four interventions: Introspection, Origins, Transition and Release. 

At State of Fashion the current game-changing events in the world, Covid-19 and worldwide Black Lives Matter movement, made them reflect their message. So far, they addressed the ecological footprint of fashion production, the promises of new materials, and fairness related to labour and working conditions, to explore how to redefine the ethics and values of fashion. This framework was the focus of their previous curator José Teunissen, and the 2018 exhibition ‘Searching for the New Luxury’. The events of 2020 almost automatically led to the new, broader focus of de-colonialism, that until now has been largely overlooked.

This is An Intervention

In the coming months, they will host four interventions featuring controversial readings, online talks, interactive workshops, and inspiring videos, films and visuals about the fashion system, its flaws and its future. First, they take a critical look at the fashion system and our role in it during an intervention dubbed Introspection. In the second intervention themed Origins in November, we trace the roots of the system and highlight work of those unseen. In the new year, we search for ways to rebuild the system in the third intervention themed Transition. Finally, in parallel with the announcement of a new curator team for State of Fashion 2022, we look for ways forward, in the intervention themed Release.

Regenerative System
"Our current fashion system may be globalized, but right now there is just an ‘us’ and an 'other’. For decades, the system has been shaped by Western ideas of what fashion is, should be and should do. It encourages constant growth and renewal, failing to take into account what it is slowly erasing as a result. It excludes other values and cultures, even though they play a pivotal role in shaping a system that is restorative for both nature and culture. As long as this doesn’t change, it seems impossible to create change that has a significant positive impact on all of us."

Join the conversation
For each intervention, they invite thinkers and makers from different parts of the world to take over our platform. For the first intervention in October, they collaborate amongst others anthropologist Sandra Niessen (Research Collective for Decolonizing Fashion) and curator and writer Stephanie Afrifa for an introspection. This intervention dives into the question of what happens to designers, labels, producers, educators and others in fashion, when we revise the colonial values fashion is still largely based on?

Join the first conversation, on 28 October, in Whataboutery #1, the covid-proof online safe space for dangerous ideas.

Longread 'Regenerative Fashion: There can be no Other'
Strategies to revise fashion are based primarily on two issues: material and labour. As laudable and important as these efforts are, they are not sufficient to solve the crisis we are in.
Read 'Regenerative Fashion: There can be no Other'

Whataboutery #1
October 28th This ‘Whataboutery’ offers you the chance to listen to voices that are being systematically silenced and erased by the fashion industry and gives you the opportunity to enrich your perspective...
Find out more about Whataboutery #1

Content courtesy, and more information: www.stateoffashion.org

Outsiderwear

OUTSIDERWEAR
Streetwear by Outsider and Insider Artists

Outsider artists tend to be a little bit different. They often sidestep a conventional arts education, and operate outside of the mainstream art world. Sometimes they face mental or physical disabilities, homelessness and vulnerability. 

Outsiderwear is a new collaborative project combining talented outsider artists with a range of fashion designers and creatives, both emerging and established.

For the first edition of Outsiderwear, some 40 out- and insider artists join forces: sometimes in pairs, as well as in other, larger compositions. In the coming months, these teams will undertake a diverse range of creative projects: from performances and exhibitions to a series of band shirts and an underwear line. The result of these experimental collaborations will be shown and sold during the multidisciplinary Outsiderwear Festival, running from 12 March to 25 April 2021 in Amsterdam.

Outsiderwear is an initiative of artist Jan Hoek and Foundation Captain Hoek, in collaboration with Foundation M-ODE and Outsider Art Galerie.

Outsiderwear Festival
Lasting six weeks, the first Outsiderwear Festival seeks to celebrate creativity in all its forms, combining the worlds of outsider and insider artists in stimulating ways. Multiple locations in Amsterdam will host surprising exhibitions, shop-in-shops, an activist photo campaign, and a number of tours and talks.
Confirmed festival locations include Outsider Art Galerie, Hermitage Amsterdam, Patta Store, Galerie Vriend van Bavink and Zeedijk60.

The participants come from a range of varied backgrounds, from niche artists and big streetwear labels to independent designers and visual artists. During the Outsiderwear Festival, the following collaborations will be presented:

Theatergroep LeBelle X Duran Lantink 


Daniël Jos Eerenberg X Wobbewear


Ben Augustus X Piet Parra


Bruin Parry X Jan Hoek 


Antoine Monod de Froideville X Bonne Suits


Nielsjan Tavernier X Tom van de Borght


Rudy de Gruyl X Benedikt Fischer 


Stichting ArtBRUUT / Makom inloophuis X Tenant of Culture


Joey Bocciardo X Fenna Miedema X Lionel Plak X Nancy X MULAS HYBRID HAUS X SUMIBU X Tirino Yspol


Aadesokan X Maxivive (Lagos)


Ayse Somunchu X Bas Kosters


Regillio Benjamin X Desmond Tjon A Koy X Patta 


Mark Bossink X Sophie Hardeman


Sijtse Keur X Norbert de Jong X Alexxx X Hans Klastat X Minke de Fonkert X Bonne Suits 

Outsiderwear Bandshirts van o.a. Cengiz Imamdi 

Outsiderwear X Tattoo-project


Speech performance by Ulrike Möntmann


Various solo presentations, including Johan Vanderscheldenen and Naomi Schupper

Despite increasing attention for outsider art – now with its own museums, biennials and galleries – this world rarely experiences close contact with the creative industry at large. Outsiderwear wants to break this dichotomy, because many outsiders deserve wider recognition, whilst many insider makers feel a deep affinity with unconventional outsider practices.

Jan Hoek: "The first collaborations of Outsiderwear are beginning to take shape. It’s so special to see how logically the collaboration between outsiders and insiders works. I look forward to a future in which the boundaries between these two worlds fade away.”

Outsiderwear is supported by Fonds voor Cultuurparticipatie, VSB Fonds, Rabobank Amsterdam, StimuleringsfondsCreatieve Industrie, Stichting DOEN, Prins Bernhard Cultuurf onds and Stichting Cordaan and works together with Outsider Art Galerie, Herenplaats, De Volksbond (GJ Scheurleerweg), Stichting ArtBRUUT / Makom inloophuis, De Witte Olifant, Bijzonder Amsterdams, TheatergroepLeBelle and De Meijboom.

www.outsiderwear.nl  
instagram.com/outsiderwear_official 

 

 

 

 

AGENDA

OUTSIDERWEAR FESTIVAL AMSTERDAM
12 March – 25 April
Presentation out- and insider collaborations. Collection sales begin. Webshop launch. Opening party. Exhibitions, tours and talks. Locations: Outsider Art Galerie, Hermitage Amsterdam, Super SEXYLAND World, Vriend van Bavink, Patta Store, Galerie Fleur & Wouter, ABCND Store and Zeedijk60.
 

OUTSIDERWEAR ON TOUR
March – August 2021 Expansion of collection. Exhibitions.
Shop-in-shops. Biennial presentation.

ArtEZ Fashion Design BA’s Class of 2020

Last week the Graduation Film of ArtEZ Fashion Design BA, Class 2020, in collaboration with Peter Stigter, premiered at Focus Filmtheater in Arnhem.

ArtEZ Fashion Design BA Class 2020 Silvy ten Broeke, Frederieke Broekgaarden, Charlotte Buchal, Elodie Cazier, Nemo Cheminée, Iris Ebel, Danny Feng, Floor van Helmond, Lisa Koops, Max Lanting, Eungyeong Lee, Aliet Moes, Benji Nijenhuis, Iris van Rens, Iris Röell, Remi Strikkers, Gijs Woletz and Gönül Yigit, united together and found a different way to show their collections. 

GRADUATION FILM ARTEZ FASHION DESIGN ARNHEM 2020 from ArtEZ Fashion Design Arnhem on Vimeo.

Winners of 35th Hyères Festival

The 35th edition of the International Festival of Fashion, Photography and Fashion accessories, Hyères, took place from 15 to 19 October 2020 at the Villa Noailles.

Tom Van Der Borght won the Grand Prix and Public Prize at Hyères Festival

Belgian designer Tom Van Der Borght, the winner of FASHIONCLASH Festival 2019 Award, won the Première Vision Grand Prize at the 35th edition of the Hyères International Festival of Fashion and Photography. The prize was announced by a jury headed by designer Jonathan Anderson, founder of JW Anderson and creative director of Loewe.

“What we really, really admired in the work of Tom van der Borght is that it was a totally new type of form, new type of shape, new type of commitment to a silhouette, and it was uncompromising,” designer Jonathan Anderson, head of the jury, said during a remote award ceremony.
“And in this moment we are in, we as a jury believe that it was about starting this new decade with newness, this idea of originality.” Anderson continued: “It was not about looking at something for its automatic commercial sense. It was about the beauty within fashion, the handmade, the technique, and the risk in it. And I think Tom has really achieved something in what he has done and I think he will go on to do very well.”

Tom Van Der Borght started his fashion education at the age of 30 and founded his label in 2013 after graduating from the Stedelijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten Sint-Niklaas. Recently he finished the Master of Theatre study at Toneelacademie Maastricht.

As part of the Chloé Prize, the finalists created in addition to the 7 silhouettes in their collection, a silhouette that is true to the Chloé legacy; the know-how of Luxury ready-to-wear combined with a feminine look, naturally elegant and spontaneous addressing today's women. Marvin M'Toumo was named Chloé Prize winner. Emma Bruschi won the Prix 19M Des metiers D'Arts De Chanel.

The Fashion Accessories jury, chaired by Hubert Barrère named Ddiddue & Juana Etcheberry winner of the Grand Prix du Jury. They also took home the Hermès Fashion Accessories Award. Special mention is for Antonin Mongin, Florian Dach & Dimitri Zephir.

The photography jury, chaired this year by Paolo Roversi, named Guanyu Xu as winner of the Grand Prix du Jury. American Vintage Photography prize went András Ladocsi and the public award is given to Dutin Thierry.

Since 1986, the festival has promoted and supported young international fashion design, since 1997 a competition has also existed for emerging photographer and this year, for the fourth time, a competition will also recognise young fashion accessory designers. The festival is acknowledged as the oldest fashion competition aimed at young professionals.

https://villanoailles-hyeres.com

From what will we reassemble ourselves

From what will we reassemble ourselves
Exhibition
6 Sep – 3 Jan 2021
Framer Framed: Oranje-Vrijstaatkade 71, Amsterdam

From what will we reassemble ourselves brings together six contemporary artists, a team of researchers, and an architect to consider a crucial question posed by Croatian-Bosnian author Jozefina Dautbegović: from what fragments – images, stories, archives, historical scraps – does one represent a life in the wake of genocide?

The exhibition positions the genocide that took place in and around Srebrenica, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 25 years ago as a historical moment connecting all the artworks presented. Each perspective represented in the exhibition offers pieces toward the reassembly – towards reimagining – of the memory of violence and loss, acknowledging that lives continued to be lived in spite of that violence.

From what will we reassemble ourselves invites the viewer to both identify with and scrutinise the position of the bystander to genocidal violence – the one who is often neglected by the historical frame, or who remains unmarked, yet whose witnessing continues to be mediated through representation.

Installation design Arna Mackic. Foto: Eva Broekema / Framer Framed

With works by Lana Čmajčanin, Anna Dasović, Ana Hoffner ex-Prvulovic, Arna Mačkić, Marko Peljhan, Selma Selman, Hito Steyerl, Facing Srebrenica Project.

Credits:
A group exhibition conceived by Anna Dasović and curated by Natasha Marie Llorens.
Exhibition design by Studio L A and Arna Mačkić.
The title of the exhibition is derived from Jozefina Dautbegović’s poem The Unidentified (2003).

Klaas Rommelaere - Dark Uncles

Klaas Rommelaere: Dark Uncles 

October 4, 2020–January 31, 2021, Texture Museum, Kortrijk, Belgium

 "A man without a history or a people that forgot its past will have no choice but to disappear …“

Young Belgian artist Klaas Rommelaere (*1986, Roeselare, Belgium) wrote this quote by award-winning Japanese anime director Hayao Miyazaki on top of his newest project "Dark Uncles". Made completely in elaborated handicraft with needle, thread, wool and yarn, seven larger-then-life puppets plus two dogs, as well as 18 new wall pieces tell about the artist's autobiographical stories. 

In order to counter disappearance and to trace his own past, Klaas Rommelaere is building large-than-life doubles – "Dark Uncles" – of his own history. Bizarre effigies of seven of his closest family members – parents, sister, partner, grandparents and the two family dogs – move procession-like through the exhibition space and tell about experiences and memories of the artist's life. The anatomical sketch of a cranium on his mother's chest is evidence of her profession as a speech therapist; muscial instruments and cheering people point to the sister's job as a booker; and that the father once had a trade company for camping supply and additional worked as a truck driver can be read from numerous details on his arms and torso.
These personal stories of each single figure are complemented by testimonies such as pictures and memories from the family's history. Having welded sculptures from metail residues after his work at the melting furnace of a metal factory, especially the grandfather played a most important role for Rommelaere's artistic development – numerous references in several wall pieces as well as an own sculpture tell of this formative relation.
At first glance, these wild collages and scenic patchwork images appear like embroidered and knotted notes in yarn and wool. However, nothing about it is coincidental. Rommelaere assembles these perfectly imperfect scenes like a complex storyboards of a two-dimensional movie. In combining both coincidental and documentary topics and thus preserving autobiographical experiences through his artistic work, Rommelaere is building a parallel existence in fragments of his own history and thus demonstrates his own existence.
Klaas Rommelaere originally graduated from them Royal Academy of Fine Art in Ghent as a fashion student. After internships with Henrik Vibskov and Raf Simons, however, he quickly realized that the fashion world is not where his ideas can come to life. Inspired by movies, comics, books or personal experiences, Rommelaere thus began to translate his drawings with the language that was familiar to him – needle, thread, wool and yarn.
At the beginning he embroidered his stories on the canvas completely by himself, which took days and weeks; at one point he started to work together with a group of elderly ladies in his home town, who now help him happily ever since. Absurdly bizarre scenes of handcraft-pop thus result from cross-stitch, crochet or knitwear. His imagery is firmly rooted in both the everyday and the subculture of urban life in Antwerp; quotes of movies or animes are mixed with interpersonal observations. Larger-than-life figures and entire sculptures are embroidered and crocheted.
If Klaas Rommelaere is not working, you will most likely find him in the local art-house-cinema around the corner of his studio in Antwerp – he owns a season ticket there. In his multi-layered, sometimes bizarre-looking picture stories of his textile paintings, fragments of movies or situations of his own everyday life blur into powerful yet delicate snapshots. 

More about the exhibition: www.texturekortrijk.be

www.instagram.com/klaasrommelaere

Photography: Courtesy Erich Spahn / Galerie Zink Waldkirchen"