Recap FASHIONCLASH Festival 2018

The Pink Church

Fashion My Religion!
 
FASHIONCLASH presented with Fashion My Religion! the 10-year anniversary edition of the international and interdisciplinary FASHIONCLASH Festival. During the 15th, 16th and 17th of June 2018 more than 150 promising designers and stage performers from countries such as the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Serbia, Finland, Uruguay and many more where given the stage at the festival. The festival program was composed within a 3-day program The Route: an inspiring pilgrimage along 26 locations with expositions, theatre- and dance performances and talks.

Several projects where specially initiated for the festival, for example the God Is A Woman!? project for which ten designers where invited to create an outfit that is based on research on a subject that is related to the theme ‘Fashion My Religion, focussing on the research on social intolerances exist and how fashion can play a role in creating more inclusivity.

The festival opened in the Gashouder on Friday June 15.  Not only was there pie but also the campaign cakes from Das Leben am Haverkamp could be admired from up close. The opening guests could choose from four routes: Museum, Church, City and Sally. Each route consisted of a number of elements from the program such as the Koorkappen exhibition in the Bonnefantenmuseum, dance performance LUX by Sally Dance Company in the Brandweer, Babel collection installation by Kasper Jongejan, Showpieces exhibition in the Bijenkorf, Inspired by Religion exhibition in 't Dinghuis, installation of Amber Jae Slooten in Entre Deux and Day Dream Space installation / performance by Tim Scheffer and Audrey Apers in Centre Ceramique.

Opening tour of The Route

The Pink Church
On Friday, a rather controversial and much-discussed pink church was literally blown up at the historic square the Vrijthof, where a themed program was organized with a number of speakers in collaboration with Waardengedreven. The Pink Church got a lot of attention and while the churches in the Netherlands are getting empty, the pink church was packed with fashionable guests.

Fashion Shows
The Fashion Show program with more than 30 designers and 12 MAFAD graduates took place on Saturday evening, a spectacular evening in a setting designed by Studio AKATAK and Scott Robin Jun. There were many highlights such as Carlijn Veuring, Annaïss Yucra Mancilla, Daria D'Ambrosio, Jacqueline Loekito, SorteMaria, Teun Seuren, Matteo Carlomusto and Zahra Hosseini. During the show program the impressive LUX was presented, the dance performance of Sally Dance Company, tenth edition of the CLASH Project and Noumenon performance by Mami Izumi and Jivika Biervliet.

Beckhomorehena by Zahra Hosseini
Show scenography Studio Akatak & Scott Robin Jun

Awards 
After the shows four Awards were presented. And the winners are:
- FASHIONCLASH Festival Award: Filipe Augusto
- KALTBLUT Magazine Award: HENKJENZ
- CHAPEAU Magazine Talent Award: Nathan Klein
- Vancouver Fashion Week Award: STEVEN VANDERYT and Rita Sá

Nathan Klein

Fashion Talk
On Sunday there was a program in the LAB Building / Forza Fashion House with three performances and The Fashion Dialogue: a CLASH or VALUES, a talk organized in collaboration with MIND FASHION with special speakers Maaike de Haardt, Dai Rees, José Teunissen, Ben Wubs, Adam Peacock and Mariangela Lavanga.

Performances
The tenth edition was one with many clashes with which the FASHIONCLASH platform gave stage to the experiment that goes beyond fashion. The festival presented a series of theme related theater and dance crossovers, including the performance 'HUNTING' by Nora Ramakers and Timo Tembuyser, a co-production with VIA ZUID, ORACLES by Anna Luka da Silva and Erik van de Wijdeven and 'MISSA HOMO SACER Op. 35 Confiteor Deo' by Timo Tembuyser. At the Mosae Forum shopping center, a special project was presented, called Dialoque Between Fashion and Death by Nina Willems, who collaborated with fashion designer Marlou Breuls and director Eva Line de Boer, based on the romantic poem by Giacomo Leopardi. At Lumière Cinema the performance took place 'I Am Sad', a project by Margreet Sweerts that showed the research of the project Festival of Sadness that will take place in the autumn.

LUX - Sally Dansgezelschap Maastricht

One of the festival highlights was LUX, the dance performance of SALLY Dance Company Maastricht. A choreography by Martin Harriague in collaboration with Maastricht fashion designer Mieke Kockelkorn, inspired by the written word in religion. And last but not least, the number of talented students from Academy of the performing Arts Maastricht who presented their performances, including Anthony van Gog, Timo Tembuyser, Anna Luka da Silva and Kimberly Afua Agyarko.

Dialoque Between Fashion and Deathat Mosae Forum

For more information about the festival and participants: fashionclash.nl

Take a look at some highlights
All pictures: brankopopovicblog

Das Leben am Haverkamp

Program - Fashion My Religion - FASHIONCLASH Festival 2018

What to expect! FASHIONCLASH Festival - Fashion My Religion! jubilee edition

FASHIONCLASH presents Fashion My Religion! The 10-year anniversary edition of the international and interdisciplinary FASHIONCLASH Festival. During the 15th, 16th and 17th of June 2018 more than 150 promising designers and stage performers from countries such as the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Serbia, Finland, Uruguay and many more will take part in the festival. The festival program is composed within a 3-day program The Route: an inspiring pilgrimage along expositions, lectures, theatre- and dance performances and talks. The Fashion Show program takes place on Saturday evening, a spectacular evening where talents of the future will take the stage at the SAM-Decorfrabriek.

In short, a unique opportunity to get inspired by and discover the world of fashion, the newest fashion talents and to enjoy Maastricht as a fashion city.

For more information about the program and designers: www.fashionclash.nl
 

Tickets: FASHIONCLASH Festival is accessible for everyone and anyone and is mostly free of entrance, with the exception of the fashion shows on Saturday. Tickets for the fashion show are for sale from €12,50 (pre-sale online) and €15, -/ students €7,50 at the door. Tickets are available from May 1st 2018 via www.fashionclash.nl - and during the festival at the SAM-Decorfabriek.

Dorota Sak

Theme: Fashion My Religion!
The overarching theme Fashion My Religion! boldly dives into one of the most current themes of the moment; religion. Specifically, the relation between religion and gender, hair style and clothing. FASHIONCLASH dares participants and visitors to research, highlight or break existing religious traditions and taboos by way of using fashion. A call to activism that hopefully inspires a new generation of fashion- makers and lovers to fulfil their role as meaningful as they can.

‘’The meeting between fashion and religion isn’t a new one. Religious idioms and luxury have been used for decades by many within fashion. Sometimes just for ethical motives, other times with a dose of criticism. With ‘Fashion My Religion’ we are placing the audience and the designer in an interesting area of tension; fashion versus religion or cutting-edge versus tradition. We take a closer look at cultural expressions of personal, modern meaning and more traditional ones. We place historical absolutes opposite from modern-day fluid truths by really going in on social matters such as, feminism and human rights. Through (fashion)design we dissect the ever-changing awareness around the relationship we have with our environment and come up with new stories and approaches to ‘fashion and religion’.’’ -FC Team

Don Aretino - HALAL

HALAL, the graduation collection by Don Aretino is inspired by the duality nature of same-sex desire in Islam through out various space and time. The Qur’an and the Hadith as the fundamental sources for Islamic living conduct chronicle ambiguous stance in regard to homosexuality. Beside illustrating homosexuality in Islam, this collection attends to show another possibility of accommodating homosexuality within Islam. By taking elements of Islamic characteristics into play, the pieces in the collection represent a fresh interpretation of homosexuality in Islam.
The collection should be understood as an attempt to deconstruct homosexuality In Islam by providing theological accommodation which detaches from the social climate of seventh century Arabia and instead focuses more on the ethical principle of freedom and social justices.

Credits:
Photographer: Tomas Eyzaguirre
Creative Consultant: Tomas C. Toth
Digital Print Design Collaborator: Ziga Tomori
Make-up Artist: La Vern Marquez
Models: Joshua, Peer & Santiago

www.instagram.com/donaretino

Heavenly Bodies: Cult Treasures & Spectacular Saints from the Catacombs

Unbelievable Skeletons Unearthed From The Catacombs Of Rome 

Back in 1578 came the fascinating discovery of a network of labyrinthine tombs, deep beneath the street of Rome. The tombs were home to the decayed skeletons of early Christian martyrs – believed to be saints on account of their bravery & unwavering support of Christian beliefs. 

Many of these skeletons (given the name ‘The Catacomb Saints’ by those who first discovered them) were then distributed across Europe (predominantly Germany) as replacements for the countless holy relics which had been smashed, stolen or destroyed during the Protestant Reformation.

Once delivered, each skeleton was then clothed and adorned into a variety of precious jewels, expensive cloth, crowns, armour and even given wigs. They were put on display inside their designated churches as a reminder to all who visited, for the riches and wealth that awaited them post death – providing they swore allegiance to the Christian faith.

So fascinated by the discovery and indeed the story behind ‘The Catacomb Saints’ art historian (& self-confessed relic hunter) Paul Koudounaris travelled all over Europe trying to find and document the status of each Saint. Amazingly many of the skeletons were yet to be put on display, still stored in containers waiting to be dressed and revealed to the public.

His book 'Heavenly Bodies: Cult Treasures & Spectacular Saints from the Catacombs' looks at the gripping origins and history of ‘The Catacomb Saints’, posing such as questions as who were they? How exactly did they die? And why had they laid forgotten in Europe’s religious institutions for so long? His work serves as a compelling documentation of some of the most elaborate & forgotten relics from a by-gone era.

Martin Margiela Couture ss 2015 collection
looks like inspired by this dead blingers

Below are just a few photographs from the stunning book itself, which you can purchase right here.

Encounter with Manon Boertien in Paris

Manon Boertien

Last weekend I was in Paris, for C-Kult exhibition where I presented my work. One of the participants was Manon Boertien who I have met in June, at FASHIONCLASH Maastricht 2011.
Through her work Manon is sharing a personal story. She is creating her own world and sharing this with us with fashion collections, installations and video's.
http://manonboertien.nl/

Devout/Divine -Fashion vs. Religion at MMH (Hasselt Fashion Museum)

Despite the winter weather I went to Hasselt last week to visit the exhibition ‘Devout/Divine- Fashion vs. Religion’ at the MMH ( Fashion Museum Hasselt). I’m really glad I got the chance to see it and that this is my last report of 2010. This was one of the most inspiring exhibitions of 2010.



If you have the chance to see it there is a possibility to visit the exhibition until the 9th of January 2011.


Jean Paul Gaultier Haute Couture s/s 2007

‘Devout/Divine- Fashion vs. Religion’ focuses on the relationship between contemporary fashion design and religion. More specifically, the integration and translation of religious symbolism in designs of the past decennia is emphasized.
With this expo, MMH focuses on a very contemporary theme. Religion and its visual appearance are much discussed these days. Many religious groups have distinct clothing politics that play an important role in their identity.

Recently, there has been a growing interest of designers for religion and the clothing and symbols that go along with it. However, the use of religion in fashion is not new. In the middle of the 20th century, leading fashion houses like Jeanne Lanvin, Madame Grès and Cristobal Balenciaga based several designs on religious garments, as a result of their religious education. In the ‘80s, jewellery with religious symbols was very popular, for example the queen of pop Madonna wore crosses as necklace and earrings.


‘Devout/Divine – Fashion vs. Religion’ is a compilation of creations of international designers and photographers. It examines how religion is integrated in their work. In the exhibition there are designs by designers like Jean Paul Gaultier, Rick Owens, Walter Van Beirendonck, Bernhard Willhelm, A.F. Vandevorst, Manish Arora, Raf Simons, Mada van Gaans, Cristobal Balenciaga, M+F Girbaud and more.

Jean Paul Gaultier Haute Couture s/s 2007




Raf Simons A/W 2000/2001




Rick Owens s/s 2009




Arkadius S/S 2002


Walter van Beirendonck F/W 2008-2009


Kevin Ledo 'The Burden of Saint Vuitton' - The Guiding Light 2009


Adam Courtney 'Religion Narrative'


Michaël Verheyden designed the scenography, a scene that contributes to a total experience of divine fashion.





Todd Lynn F/W 2009-2010


‘Devout/Divine- Fashion vs. Religion’ is coordinated by Kenneth Ramaekers with assistance of Eve Demoen. Scenography is designed by Michaël Verheyden

For more information about the exhibition: http://www.modemuseumhasselt.be/




January 29th MMH will open a new exposition ‘Alter Nature: The future that never was’ with participants like: Thierry Mugler, Marloes ten Böhmer and Lanvin.

‘Alter Nature: The future that never was’ is an overarching project by Z33, the Hasselt Fashion Museum and CIAP in collaboration with the MAD faculty, the University of Hasselt, the Flemish Institute for Biotechnology (VIB), KULeuven University and bioSCENTer.

Check the blog post about: ‘Alter Nature: we can’