New Fashion Narratives exhibition - FASHIONCLASH Festival 2024

Exquisite Corps

For the 16th time, Maastricht was all about the art and culture of fashion with the annual FASHIONCLASH Festival. More than 100 designers and artists from more than 20 countries were given a platform to present their work to an international audience. More than 100 young people are actively involved in Fashion Makes Sense, FASHIONCLASH's participation program, through workshops, co-creation projects or as performers. Spread over 13 locations there were exhibitions, performances, workshops, lectures, films, designer market, etc. Even the festival Afterparty was transformed into a showcase of fashion, dance, spoken word and celebration of the diversity of identity expression. 

During this three-day festival, a new generation of designers and performing artists from all over the world are given the opportunity to show their work to a broad (inter)national audience. The program with exhibitions, performances, talks, workshops and fashion film screenings, showcases projects that explore, contextualize and celebrate contemporary fashion culture.

Exquisite Corps
For this year's exhibition program, five fashion practitioners were invited by FASHIONCLASH to form a curatorial team and collaborate on the concept for the New Fashion Narratives exhibition that will be presented at Bureau Europa during the festival. This year's curatorial team includes Chaewon Kong, Karime Salame, Katharina Spitz, Simon Marsiglia and Teresa Carvalheira – a group of fashion makers with diverse backgrounds and practices within and beyond the fashion landscape.

They first met during a physical Residency Week (22-26 April 2024) in Maastricht, where they got to know each other and worked on developing the concept. The exhibition was built around the idea of the game Exquisite Corps that serves as a metaphor for the framework for presenting works that are the result of collaborative and/or transdisciplinary practices. A selection has been made of artists, researchers and designers from various disciplines.



The curatorial team was inspired by topics and practices beyond the boundaries of the fashion landscape. They want to broaden the confines of fashion and design practices by welcoming applications from artists, researchers, and designers from various disciplines who work according to a transdisciplinary approach. This iteration of ‘New Fashion Narratives’ explores cross-disciplinary practices and simultaneously showcases their potential and impact.
Works are combined free from the confines of the traditional fashion landscape, drawing inspiration from practices with a wide range of sources/topics (scientific, rituals of care, food, crafting, etc.). Both artists, researchers, makers from other disciplines, and fashion practitioners were invited to participate through an Open Call. The ‘Exquisite Corpse’ was put into practice as a new, temporary installation consisting of exhibitors’ works composed by the curatorial team. Collaboration, exchange, and interaction become integral parts of their shared exploration.
Through an activation programme, visitors could participate in various activities in addition to the exhibition; these interactions spark conversations about the prospects of transdisciplinary collaboration.

New Fashion Narratives participants
2mm, Agatha Prieto Jeanty, Rafael Kouto, Wataru Sato, Delia Rößer, Alyne Li, STUDIO ERASER YOU, Hongkai Li, Jiwoo Lee & Hankyul Jeong, Threads & Tits, Olivia Sahl Jensen, Sien Entius, Lee Kern, Studio Wievien, Romy Yedidia, DOMINIK, Knits and Notes, Zuzana Vrabelova, Chiel Lubbers, Dana Elmi Sarabi, Studio Frowijn, Souheila Chalabi, Jinwon Kim, Matti Paffen, Kushami 嚔(by Ayumi Kajiwara), Lara van der Poel, Wassim el Hodayebi.

www.fashionclash.nl

Fashion Film Program - FASHIONCLASH Festival 2024

still from Shame (عيب) by Hadi Moussally

The fashion (short) film has become an established medium in which designers and brands are presenting their ethics and aesthetics. In this digital era, it is one of the more effective and sustainable ways to capture a fashion narrative and to reach a wide audience via online platforms and festival all over the globe. Besides the fashion film genre, there has been a rise of digital fashion and other audiovisual ways of presenting fashion in recent years. Designers have been digitally presenting their work in the form of a video or film, out of necessity or because they choose audiovisual tools to present their work. 

 Ever since the beginning FASHIONCLASH has approached fashion as a multimedia artistic expression acknowledging film and moving media as an important part of the art of fashion. FASHIONCLASH offers a platform for the fashion film genre with a recurring curated film program during FASHIONCLASH Festival, but also produces fashion films itself. Each edition, new fashion films are premiering during the festival, aiming to contribute to the development of the genre. This proves to be successfull, most fashion films produced by FASHIONCLASH had ended up with multilple screenings and selections through out the world at various fashion film festival.

The Leap, fashion film that premiered in 2023 is currently traveling across the globe, the film earned selections at ASVOFF, Berlin Fashion Film Festival, Fashion Film Festival Amsterdam, New York City International Fashion Film Festival and many more. The Leap is a short film by Amber Rozema, Solar Vlaar, Yana Engelbrecht, Jelena Bondt and Damiano Bodei, created after joining the 1-day Fashion Film Bootcamp organized by FASHIONCLASH in May 2023 and powered by Meester Koetsier Foundation. The team was guided in filming and editing by filmmaker Daniel van Hauten. By organizing a trajectory around fashion film, young artists and aspring film makers are given the opportunity to experiment with the genre. The multidisciplinary collaboration that this film genre offers multiple ways to explore fashion related narratives.

Behind the scenes of The Leap

 

Fashion Film Program at FASHIONCLASH Festival 2024

The film program at Lumière Cinema offers a platform to designers and filmmakers who experiment with the (short) fashion film genre. The program consists of a selection of 31 films from different countries in the world, thus showing a very diverse range of perspectives, disciplines, cultures and stories.

On Saturday evening 16 November, the five finalists will be presented and the FASHIONCLASH Festival Fashion Film Award 2024 and the KALTBLUT. Magazine Award will be presented by the jury consisting of Esther Muñoz Grootveld, Sam Bassett, Pedro Oberto, Donald Gjoka and Marcel Schlutt.

On Saturday, there is a special screening and artist talk dedicated to the film maker Hadi Moussally, a Lebanese-French filmmaker. He acquires a first master’s degree in “Fiction Cinema” then a second one in “Documentary and Anthropological Cinema” in Paris universities. In 2015, he co-founded the production company “h7o7” whose main objective is to enable the making and promotion of films and photos with "hybrid" vocation where is privileged the mixture of genres between fashion, experimental, documentary and fiction. In 2020, he founded “Hybrid Wave” with more than 30 hybrid artists from all around the world.

FASHIONCLASH fashion film projects
During the festival, three fashion films will also premiere that were produced by FASHIONCLASH and resulted from the Fashion Film development process that was made possible by the Meester Koetsier Foundation and Fonds Cultuurparticipatie.

on set at m  i k

In m  i k, a film by Pablo Salvador Willemars, Klaar Straatman and Lianca van der Merwe, the story follows m i k, on a journey through a world where she encounters various characters who embody different forms of non-verbal communication. The film draws inspiration from "Ik Mik Loreland” an educational television program that aired in 1994 in the Netherlands, created to support initial reading and spelling for children around 6 years old. The series aimed to make learning, reading and writing entertaining, incorporating modern computer technology. Through the adventures of Mik, the program taught children words and letters. For the film Marjolein Macrander reprised the role of Mik, around 30 years after playing the character in the tv series. Like the series the film m i k explores the essence of communication, now in a more abstract and visual form.

In 'A Breathe Moment' a film by Jodie Cranen, Leda Spiranec, Povilas Gegevicius & Hsin Min Chan, a group of workers, stuck in a vicious cycle of labour; try to take control of their own efforts within a system that’s unmoving.

'Purification' is a film by Tobias Van Nieuwenhove, Coco Simons and Tyna Le.
A determination for purification introduces two figures from parallel universes—one reviving from mud, the other forged in ash and flame. As both urge to cleanse themselves from the polluted environment surrounding them, a broader challenge against their primordial nature and elemental constraints emerges. To achieve their purest form, they must disrupt the balance of nature, leading to confusion and irreversible havoc. A dystopian portrayal of the journey happens simultaneously through a macro-dynamic world where the present and future merge. The journey of both characters signifies the contrast between destruction, exertion and burning desire for liberation.

The striking documentary Queendom will be shown on Thursday evening, November 14, with a Q&A with the director. The story of Gena, a 21-year-old Russian non-binary performance artist, is also the perfect introduction to the festival, which includes a queer activity program.

Fashion Film Program 2024 participants:
Anke De Veirman, Alijah Johnson, Esteban Avilaa, Ximan Tan & Haowei Li, Lisa Konno, Maya Marzuki Peters, Delia Simonetti, Sel Kofiga, Zoë Zita & Filip Kwakkel, Yisong Huang, Katharina Spitz, Nicholas John Murphy, Dean Alexander, Corentin Kopp & Aaron Arnoldt Alexander, Jhenyfy Muller, Luuk Sieben & Wertmann Peter, Hadi Moussally, Ronita Awoonor-Gordon, Kutsal Taylanci, Asiah Essam Alsalem, Yu Chen, EV Zhang, Sophie Fabre & Roel Vissers, Nicola Martini, Dylan Eno, Desiree Brands & Joris Weerts, Thalia de Jong, Yangyang Wu, Michal Zgierski.

Some impressions of the 2024 selection:

16th edition FASHIONCLASH Festival - Program

More than 100 designers and artists from more than 20 countries will be given a stage during the 16th edition of the international and multimedia FASHIONCLASH Festival in Maastricht (The Netherlands) from 15 to 17 November 2024. 

During this three-day festival, a new generation of designers and performing artists from all over the world are given the opportunity to show their work to a broad (inter)national audience. The program with exhibitions, performances, talks, workshops and fashion film screenings, showcases projects that explore, contextualize and celebrate contemporary fashion culture.
The program includes, amongst other things: The CLASH House with fashion performances, New Fashion Narratives exhibition at Bureau Europa, Fashion Film Program & Awards at Lumière Cinema, Fashion Makes Sense participation program at Centre Céramique, Pop-Up Sales event at SNS Expertisecentrum and various other locations and events throughout the town, such as Marres, Dans- en Partycentrum Bernaards, LBG Hotels (The Green Elephant) and Limestone Books.

FASHIONCLASH Festival is accessible to everyone through ticket sales and/or free.
For more information about the program, participants and ticket sale: www.fashionclash.nl

New Grounds - experimental film and video art

Viewmaster Projects and Video Power joined forces for New Grounds, an exhibition that shows many interpretations of the fall, and the playful ways in which video artists relate to their environment after landing on new grounds.

Main venue is the first floor of the renovated Kunstfront building in Maastricht. Eleven works temporarily transform the former Radium office and squatter art house into an exhibition zone. Another works are presented in Bureau Europa and Limestone Books.

ARTISTS: Sophie Clements (UK), Joe Dante (VS), Sebastián Diáz Morales (AR), Amauta García & David Camargo (MX), Harrison and Wood (UK), Marta Hryniuk & Nick Thomas (PL/UK), Christine Koenigs (NL), L.G. Kramer (NL), Anouk Kruithof (NL), Martina Laruffa (IT), Matt McCormick (VS), Ika Schwander & Lizzy Deacon (NL/UK)

The exhibition is a collaboration between Viewmaster Projects and Video Power, two media art initiatives based in Maastricht. New Grounds is affiliated with Transitions, a festival for adventurous filmmaking, organised by Video Power from 10-12 Oct in Lumière. 

www.viewmaster-projects.com/en/new-grounds/ 

MOḌA. Moroccan Fashion Statements

House of Useless

MOḌA. Moroccan Fashion Statements at Centraal Museum Utrecht on show from October 3, 2024 — March 2, 2025

The opening took place on the 2nd of October with the presence of Queen Maxima. Designers BENCHELLAL, Said Mahrouf and Yousra Razine Mahrah, that are featured in the exhibition,  showed some of their creations on the catwalk.

The exhibition MOḌA, the common word in Moroccan to refer to fashion, centres on the makers and presents the artistic work and personal stories of cutting-edge designers and artists from Morocco and the Moroccan diaspora in the Netherlands. These game changers led the way for several generations of makers, enthusiasts and consumers, far beyond the national borders of Morocco. MOḌA. Moroccan Fashion Statements is the result of a joint initiative by DAR Cultural Agency and Centraal Museum. 

The versatility of the exhibition and the Moroccan fashion world is demonstrated through various themes. ‘Monumental’ presents the striking designs by for instance Sara Chraibi, Daily Paper, New Tangier and MAISON ARTC, while in ‘Cosmopolitan’, the rural and urban worlds merge, as observed through the eyes of multidisciplinary artists. Here, videos, photographs and textile art reveal the stories of groundbreaking creative makers such as Joseph Ouechen and Meryem Slimani. The theme of ‘Amazigh Hair Heritage’ is the result of a unique collaboration with the world-famous hair stylist Ilham Mestour.

‘Friendship’ focuses on the iconic Tamy Tazi and her friendship with Yves Saint Laurent. In the 1960s and 70s, Tazi was part of the avant-garde of Moroccan fashion with her innovative application of embroidery. Specifically for this exhibition, Hassan Hajjaj created an Intermezzo: a lounge space for personal encounter, inspired by his new space JAJJAH in Marrakesh. In this intermezzo space visitors can find a selection of books curated by Yasmina Naji of Kulte Editions: Morocco’s only independent publisher of art books. In ‘Artists & Artisans’, the focus is on the manufacturing process, with designs by Fadila el Gadi and others, and new work by both Mina Abouzahra and Said Mahrouf. 

The exhibition comprises about one hundred objects, curated across seven themes ranging from cosmopolitan to monumental. Together they tell transhistorical, intercultural and personal stories from the perspective of fashion.

Official opening with presence of Queen Maxima

From hyperlocal to international
MOḌA presents stories from the Moroccan diaspora in the Netherlands as well as of creative makers in Morocco. The exhibition shows that these groups are not worlds apart, but that they mutually inspire and influence each other. MOḌA captures the many layers and complexity of Moroccan cultures, through the different art forms and perspectives and the statements and questions posed by the makers.

Designers
MOḌA features work by BENCHELLAL, BLED, BOKS Cultuurhuis, Chaimae El Masmoudi, Daily Paper, DIOR with Sumano, Dunya Zita, Fadila El Gadi, Fiona Makkink, Hassan Hajjaj Studio, House of Useless, Ilham Mestour, Jasper Abels, Joseph Ouechen, Joste/Yves Saint Laurent, Karim Adduchi, Kulte Art & Editions, Late for Work, Laila Hida, Le Rouche BS, Maison ARTC, Maison Sara Chraïbi, Mastoor, Meriem Belkhayat, Meriem Bennani, Meriem Yin, Merrachi, Meryem Slimani, Mina Abouzahra, Mounir Raji, New Tangier, Noureddine Amir, Raphia, Said Mahrouf, Samira Charroud, Sophia Tazi, STONES STORIES, Tamy Tazi, Yousra Razine Mahrah, YOUSSRA and Yto Barrada.

Centraal Museum x DAR Cultural Agency
Centraal Museum and DAR Cultural Agency are joining forces for MOḌA. Founder Zineb Seghrouchni: “The aim of DAR Cultural Agency is to stimulate meaningful collaborations between artists, museums, brands and communities. The art platform aims to establish a new norm. This new norm already exists, in the fringes of society, neighborhoods and disciplines and emerges outside of the traditional institutions.
DAR brings new streams and dreams to art through thoughtful curation and represents artistic talent in the field of art, design and architecture. Between 2017 and 2022, Seghrouchni created and led the first large-scale international design programme involving Morocco and the Netherlands. MOḌA is a manifestation of how these different worlds are connected. The stories that MOḌA presents demonstrate how art is part of everyday life: you literally wear it on your skin.”

More information:www.centraalmuseum.nl

Lichting 2024 - Amsterdam Fashion Week

Peter Wertmann

Peter Wertmann, who graduated from KABK academy in the Hague, won Lichting 2024 with graduation collection 'Lost product of society'  

The annual Lichting show took place again during Amsterdam Fashion Week and this time in a room at De Hallen Studios in Amsterdam. During the show, ten recently graduated fashion designers showed their creations.
The jury immediately announced the winner after the show. Peter Wertmann took home the Lichting Award worth 10,000 euros. This year the Dutch jury consisted of Ahmad Larnes, Anke de Jong, Ronald van der Kemp and Tess van Zalinge. The international jury consisted of Meike van Lelyveld, Marlo Saalmink, Gert Jonkers and Faye Mitchell.

Yousra Razine Mahrah, the winner of 2023, presented her new collection as part of the Lichting pre-program.

Lichting format works with an open call since 2022. The seven academies can nominate one graduate. Graduates who have not been selected by an academy can register via the open call. A total of 25 graduates are selected by Lichting, ten of whom make it to the finals.

Finalists of the Lichting 2024 are:
Erin McLain, Peter Wertmann, David Okkerse, David R. Siepman, Yaroslav Grygorchuk, Michal Zgierski, Arva Bustin, Jinwon Kim, Nouka Rous, Pauline Blind

Lichting is an initiative of Amsterdam Fashion Week and HTNK International and is supported by, among others, the Meester Koetsier Foundation. During Lichting, ten talented graduates from Dutch fashion academies show their work. Lichting's goal is to offer promising designers a springboard towards a viable career.
www.lichting.nl

Abrasei – Denzel Veerkamp

Denzel Veerkamp convincing and passionate debut show at Amsterdam Fashion Week

On September 6th, Denzel Veerkamp debuted with a solo show during Amsterdam Fashion Week. Named'Abrasei', the show was a vibrant expression of cultural storytelling through fashion, music, and movement, staged at Studio Wieman in Amsterdam-Noord. With this well researched project, he presented a heartfelt and innovative tribute to the Afro-Surinamese culture.

The collection, deeply personal and influenced by Denzel’s first visit to Suriname earlier this year, represented a journey into the heart of his heritage. The title Abrasei, meaning "on the other side" or "overseas," symbolized the connection between his bi-cultural roots, drawing on the history and the broader narrative of the Surinamese Diaspora. Every piece in this collection reflects a part of that journey— exploring the complexities, the strength, and the beauty of his Afro-Surinamese identity.

The show opened with a moving performance by Surinamese flutist Ronald Snijders, setting the tone for an evening that flowed between fashion and performance. With a series of 25 distinct looks, inspired by the rich and distinct Creole culture, each piece reflected Denzel’s commitment to preserving traditional Surinamese dress while giving it a contemporary, Afro-futuristic twist. The collection was centered around the themes of dignity, stoic virtues and self-defense, allowing each model to carry out a certain form of cultural storytelling. From traditional starch experiments to distinct choices in material use. For instance, the show opened with a look based on the traditional koto silhouette in a modernized version with a mini skirt, made from an unsold bedsheet. Or the graphical elements usually seen on traditional pangi’s, which were applied as artisanal embroidery’s on some of the garments throughout the collection. By solely using existing materials, Veerkamp not only demonstrated the power of reuse. By weaving the cultural and circular motives together, a unique and exciting framework of both artistic- and personal, Afro-Futuristic expression was chiseled. 

The show, that was more like a happening, resulted of a dedicated team working tirelessly to bring Denzel’s vision to life. From the dynamic choreography to the scenography, which had the entire space filled with bouquets of flowers held together with left over scraps from the collection, which got handed out to the audience afterwards. To the artistically crafted music, and every behind-the-scenes detail, countless individuals poured their creativity and skill into making the event a success. Their collective effort was crucial in translating the concept of Abrasei into a visually and emotionally rich experience.

Partners including WE Fashion, Gideon Italiaander, MAC, Sebastian Professional, Studio Wieman, The Gang is Beautiful, Soulfood Noord, BAAS Amsterdam, GDFL Brassband, Stichting Cordaan, Amsterdam750, AFK, Stimuleringsfonds Creatieve Industrie, played pivotal roles in supporting and elevating the show. Through material donations, creative collaboration, funding and logistical support, their contributions were essential in shaping this unique night.

As Atelier Denzel Veerkamp reflects on its debut, the excitement for future projects is palpable. This show marked a significant milestone, showcasing a creative vision that merges cultural research, industrial change, and storytelling through fashion. The night was heart-fulfilling, reminding everyone involved why this artistic journey holds so much purpose.

Photography: Peter Stigter

 www.denzelveerkamp.com

EXPOSED Fashion Show 2024 - KABK

Yara de Vries

EXPOSED / the FASHION SHOW, the annual presentation of the Textile & Fashion department of the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague took place On June 13th at The Megastores shopping mall in The Hague.
The Fashion Show featured the work of all years, from the first investigative steps in year 1 to highlighting the very personal collections of the graduating students Sophia Bogstedt, Elke Cloïn, Julia Groven, Wassim el Hodayebi, Patryk Ochmánski, Yara de Vries, Peter Wertmann and Siyu Zhang.

After the show, the Keep an Eye Textile & Fashion Scholarship Award was presented to Wassim el Hodayebi to invest in his creative development. 

 

 

Gerrit Rietveld Fashion Show 2024

Camille Doussy

The Rietveld Academie Fashion Show is the annual presentation of the Fashion Department of the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam. This year the Rietveld Academie Fashion Show presented the graduation projects of Anna Ammerer, Oline Bronée, Camille Doussy, Mads Lucky Hemmingsen, Elayne Henry, Olivia Sahl Jensen, Emmanuelle Martinez, Erin McClain, Dorka Morvai, Sophie Rintala, Vincent Schefz en Marlene Scheinle, as well as a selection of work by first and second year Fashion students.

This edition of the fashion show is characterised by live sound. Amplified by a microphone, each student is literally given a voice. Like in the early fashion shows of the 1950s, where a presenter provided live comments on elements like the fabric, length and detailing, this microphone adds a sonic dimension to the work. The models are no longer silent, but breathe, hum, shout, speak and sing. Because the show is an inherent part of the work, integrated into the curriculum and not just a stage to display the result of a design process on, the students have developed their own performative dimension of the work.

Under the guidance of Elisa van Joolen, Uta Eisenreich, Fashion teachers Philipp Schueller, Oscar Raaijmaker, Ferdinand Schmeits, Tenant of Culture, Sanne Karssenberg and Marina Sasseron de Oliveira Cabral, and in collaboration with makers from various disciplines, such as voice and performance coach Deborah Abrahams, artist and choreographer Alexis Blake, scenographer Stefan Prokop and sound artist Jeroen Vermandere, each student developed the multifaceted nature of their work through experiments with voice, sound, space, movement, light and shadow.
The works show a wide range of personal interests, techniques, forms and materials, but come together in a play on identity, parallel universes and the twilight zone between fiction, dreams, memory, reality and lies. Clothes that function as an extension of the body, emphasizing its movements. Clothes in cultural rituals, but also ‘clothing failures’ that stretch the standard of what is allowed to be visible.

Jan van Eyck Academy Open Studios 2024

Kexin Hao

From June 20 until June 23 Jan van Eyck Academy held its annual Open Studios.

36 Artists, fashion, graphic, social, and food designers, curators, writers, performers, and other researchers will opened their ateliers to display the processes and outcomes of their time spent at the Jan van Eyck Academie.
For four days, the academy studios, labs, halls, and gardens will be filled with presentations, installations and screenings, readings and talks, workshops, and performances. The event programme also counted on savourable contributions by the Jan van Eyck Food Lab, the Future Materials Lab, and a special Writers’ Programme. 

Particioants: Ana Tomimori & Carlos Felipe Guzmán, Andrea Zavala Folache & Adriano Wilfert Jensen, Anouk Beckers, Ayo Akingbade, aqui Thami, Arjun Das, Astrid Haerens, Céline Mathieu, Cemre Kara, Ginevra Petrozzi, H M Baker, HaYoung, Ikram Hamdi Mansour, Immanuel Yang, Kexin Hao, Klodiana Millona & Yuan-Chun Liu, Luca Soudant, Lucas Odahara, Magalie Mobetie, Malina Suliman, Merel van Slobbe, Michał Grzegorzek, muSa Mattiuzzi, Mirte van Laarhoven, Nadim Choufi, Olena Newkryta, Raimo Saarinen, Sara Bachour, Sepideh Behrouzian, Sujin Moon, Ugo Woatzi, Valentina Curandi, Yoeri Alexander Guépin

More information: www.janvaneyck.nl

Some picture impressions

Artez Fashion Show 2024

The Artez Fashion Show took place on Friday, June 7, which showcased Generation 66, or class of 2024. During the Fashion Show, eleven Fashion Design graduates presented their graduation collections. First and second year students also presented their projects and the film Collection Arnhem '24 was shown.

Graduates: Yelyzaveta Kostenko, Sophie-Marie Ordo, Fie Lenders, Arva Bustin, Christiaan Sebastiaan Kock, Loreta Rogule, Darina Denisova, Nouka Rous, Hannah Hasler, Madelief de Lange, Zihao Li

State of Fashion 2024 - Ties that Bind

Mohammed El Marnissi

On 16 May, the festive launch of the State of Fashion Biennale | Ties that Bind took place. During the opening a special artwork was unveiled and performance presented by designer Ruben Jurriën and students of Thomas a Kempis College in Arnhem. Also on show was a live performance by participating artists Ülkuhan Akgül and Batuhan Demir.

State of Fashion 2024: Ties that Bind brings together creative practices in fashion, textiles and contemporary art from across the Global South. Curated by Louise Bennetts and Rachel Dedman in collaboration with Sunny Dolat, Kallol Datta and Hanayrá Negreiros, this decentralised edition unfolds across Arnhem, Nairobi, Bengaluru and São Paulo. Ties that Bind explores the complexities of tradition, the power of indigenous knowledge, and the political potential of clothing.

Ties that Bind celebrates fashion in an expanded field, through critical creative practices from all over the world. How are artists from the Global South addressing and contesting colonial legacies embedded in clothing and cloth? How are designers evolving inherited traditions, and engaging with the urgencies of our time? Rooted in the universal intimacy of fabric, Ties that Bind seeks to amplify the kinships and connectedness among global practices, and share the powerful human stories woven into what we wear. 

State of Fashion Biennale 2024 | Ties that Bind take place from 17 May to 30 June 2024.

From Wednesday to Sunday, 10:00-17:00, you can visit the Ties that Bind exhibition at the main location Rembrandt Theatre with spatial design by Maison the Faux. In addition, there is an installation at Museum Arnhem with live performace activation with artist Lisette Ros. 

Themes - State of Fashion Biennale 2024 | Ties that Bind

Unfolding across four core themes, Ties that Bind unravels notions of tradition, explores the political power of clothing, and alternative approaches to exploitative fashion systems. How are artists from the Global South addressing and contesting colonial legacies embedded in clothing and cloth? How are designers evolving inherited traditions, and engaging with the urgencies of our time?

Themes:Political Bodies
By virtue of being made by hand and worn on the body, textiles and dress are intimately connected to people, society and the political. For hundreds of years, the textile trade was entwined with colonial systems of exploitation, but clothing has always remained a mode of resistance, as well as an instrument of repression. Artists and designers from across the Global South engage in the present with the potential and power of fabric: to challenge stereotypes around identity, origin and gender, to reflect upon migrant experience, to address the legacies of conflict, and to speculate on the future.

On show artists and designers: Azra Akšamija, Esna Su, Bárbara Sánchez-Kane, Jakkai Siributr, Alia Ali, Reena Saini Kallat

Theme: Dismantling Tradition
Tradition is a deceptively complex term. Fashion and the making of clothing are practices defined by constant change and transformation. Although we associate tradition with the past, it is never at odds with the innovative. In Dismantling Tradition, fashion designers from across the Global South revel in the historical techniques they inherit,using weaving, draping, sculpting, quilting, embroidering and paper-cutting to celebrate the enduring potential of textiles, and to evolve local legacies. At the same time, in the Global South traditions frequently represent indigenous knowledge that was marginalised and repressed under colonialism. Over hundreds of years, local textile and clothing practices were eroded and overwritten by imperial power; in recent decades, globalisation has homogenised our world’s diversity of dress. Designers today are not only reclaiming their heritage, but acknowledging this violence.

On show artists and designers: Christopher Raxxy, Nous Étudions, Lukhanyo Mdingi,Sun Lee, Maison ARTC, Kallol Datta, Karim Adduchi, NKWO, Mohammed El Marnissi.  

Las Manuelas Project

Theme: Designing Integrity
Today’s global fashion system is heavily exploitative of the world’s human and environmental resources, and it is predominantly the Global South that bears the burden of demand for fast, cheap clothing. From the practice of waste colonialism – where developed countries dump their textile and clothing waste in developing countries – to the inhuman treatment of garment workers, the dominant economic model is unethical and unsustainable.
Designing Integrity brings together makers from across the Global South who are forging alternative approaches to the creation of fashion and textiles. Their work favours slow making, prioritises fair wages, and values transparency in their supply chain. These organisational principles are matched by creative innovation. Whether revitalising waste textiles or celebrating artisanal practices, such projects give agency and visibility to workers and labourers in the garment industry and beyond.

On show artists and designers: Material Atlas, ABOUT A WORKER, TMS.SITE, Buziga Hill, Luna Del Pinal, Las Manuelas Project 

Mounira Al Solh

Theme: The Fabric of Shelter
Cloth is a building block of humans’ social and material lives; from birth we are swaddled, in death we are shrouded. The very word fashion means to make, to form. The technology of textiles is fundamental and ancient, and clothes are the changeable, ephemeral homes through which we navigate the world. From suspended sheets that conjure refuge amid conflict, to garments that enable individual worship, practices in The Fabric of Shelter use textiles to address the elemental connections between the body and architecture. Exploring grief and change, home and its loss, their works harness the familiar intimacy of fabric.

On show artists and designers: Melati Suryodarmo, Mounira Al Solh, Filwa Nazer, Hangama Amiri

State of Fashion 2024 | Tradition(al)
At the heart of this edition of the State of Fashion Biennale is a decentralised structure. Ties that Bind has unfolded across four places: the home site here in Arnhem, as well as in three sister sites in Kenya, India, and Brazil. In each sister site, an interlocutor-curator – Sunny Dolat in Nairobi, Kallol Datta in Bengaluru, and Hanayrá Negreiros in São Paulo – was invited to develop a Ties that Bind project embedded in their local context and community. Their thoughtful, powerful exhibitions happened in March and April 2024, and highlights from each one are presented in Arnhem.

Batuhan Demir & Ülkühan Akgül

State of Fashion Biennale curated by Fashion + Design Festival Arnhem

As part of the Ties that Bind Biennale, State of Fashion has invited Fashion + Design Festival Arnhem (FDFA) to organise an Open Call for Arnhem-based makers. From October 2023, Arnhem-related makers could apply for the Open Call. They were asked for a plan in which makers described their idea for an installation/presentation/performance around the theme of the Biennale. Hankyul Jeong together with HongKai Li and Jiwoo Lee, Raven, Batuhan Demir together with Ülkühan Akgül, Sophie Roumans and Bas Kosters reflect on the theme of this Biennale with new work. Especially for this part, an exhibition will be set up in Rozet Arnhem, which will be on view free of charge from May 17 to June 30, 2024.

More information: https://stateoffashion.org

State of Fashion is a platform for showcasing alternatives to the current fashion system. We connect fashion, explicitly and honestly, with the societal questions and challenges of our time, such as inclusivity and fair practice, the impact of globalisation and the climate crisis. Our leading question is how fashion can contribute to a better world?

10th edition of Zlin Design Week

Birds Aren't Real by Peter McIndoe

The 10th edition of Zlin Design Week took place from May 8 – 14 in the town of Zlin in Czech Republic. This was not only the 10th anniversary of this design festival but also the 15th edition of Best in Design competition that is part of the program.

Composed around the theme FUTURE IS!, with this edition the organization behind the festival aims to look forward and reflect on what kind of future is created by design. Questioning the potential of current innovations and trends in design for a better future. The program, spread all over Zlin, contains exhibitions, lectures, workshops, fashion shows, talks, award ceremony, pop-up shop, networking events and parties.

Exhibition program consisted of the main exhibition Future is! at the Zlín Castle. Curated by, Michala Lipková, Future is! explores current challenges and trends in design and presents projects that can shape our near and distant future. The selection of projects has focused on meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), resilient design, use of new technologies, and inclusive approaches.

One project featured in this exhibition that stayed with me is by Crafted Liberation. From headscarves to stadium seats, Crafted Liberation celebrates Iranian Women's resilience in the pursuit of gender equality. Crafted Liberation is an exhibition showing unity and empowerment among women of Iran. With headscarves donated by Iranian women globally, they transform them into stadium seats, telling stories of their struggle against political and societal constraints. This project calls for awareness and solidarity for women in Iran and beyond.

Best in Design exhibtion

The second exhibition in the G18 gallery was centered around the finalists of the international competition Best in Design 2024, a showcase for new talents in the fields of Product & Industrial Design, Fashion Design, Communication Design, and Service Design for fifteen years.

The finalists of the 15th year of the competition were selected by a jury panel and their work was on show in the exhibition program. On Saturday evening, May 11th, the awards were given out at the impressive Tomas Bata Memorial (Památník Tomáše Bati), a functionalist building built in 1933.

Best in Design is an international contest for young designers. There are not only financial rewards from 200 € up to 1 500 € at stake, but it’s also a great opportunity to get a feedback and network. Jury is mix of various professionals and previous winners.

In the fashion category the first prize went to Rafał Zakrzewski’s project ‘Reconnect with cloth’, second to Aidan- Jayson Peters ‘Danusa life of a garment’ and third to ‘Embracing Female Healing’ by Ziyao Xiao.
Barbora Kramná was awarded first prize in the communication category and Dorothea Wagnerberger in Service Design. Marek Kuźmiński, finalist of the Product & Industrial Design category, took home most awards, including the media award and the overall Best in Design Award.

OUR SHIFT x Škoda

Furthermore in the program platform was given to aspiring fashion designers. On Friday evening the festival’s main Fashion Show, under the title Future is spectrum! took place outdoor on Platform 14/15 of the Bata Institute.The concept of the Jubilee Fashion Show revolved around the idea that the future is not a linear path but a dynamic spectrum of possibilities. The fashion show featured ten designers from Czech Republic and abroad: Tereza Helánová, Pavel Mikliš, Terezie Kožíková, Karin Elízová, Kateřina Klozová, Jakub Mikulášek, Zuzana Vrábeľová, Valerie Vrbová, Marija Petraityte and Ema Domanická.

One of the highlights happened on Sunday evening, when OUR SHIFT presented a performance in collaboration with Škoda in an emptied parking space. OUR SHIFT is an activist textile and fashion startup launched in 2022 in Copenhagen. The founder duo Milan and Barbora aim to empower individuals and companies to make a shift enabling a more responsible world through activism and textile upcycling. They combine design and upcycling techniques to create unique upcycled styles. With their activist slogans and responsibly-made products, they aim to contribute to the inevitable shift in the fashion and textile industry. In addition, they use their knowledge and experience in the textile upcycling processes to help other companies reuse their left-over textiles and shift their business models into more sustainable ones.

And there was more. Check out https://zlindesignweek.com @zlindesignweek

Take a look at the picture report

Fashion in Flux Showcase #1 - FEELING FASHION

Image: kumfo domfo (fka The Slum Studio).
Photography: Kevin Kwabia

Fashion in Flux Showcase #1 - FEELING FASHION

Sunday 2 June, 15:00 - 19:00
Location: The New Institute, Rotterdam

Does sustainable fashion exist? Ghanaian visual artist Sel Kofiga does not think so. He does believe in sustainable relationships between makers, wearers, materials and land. Kofiga: ’Producing sustainable relationships relies mostly on understanding the implications of what we wear – that's what I'm interested in.’ (Source: Courier Media).

From 2 to 7 June, Fashion in Flux invites Sel Kofiga to the Netherlands to connect and exchange with the Dutch fashion network. For this occasion, Fashion in Flux asked Branko Popovic, artistic director of FASHIONCLASH, to curate an afternoon inspired by Kofiga’s vision and work.

Along new textile work by Sel Kofiga, Popovic will showcase creations of three up and coming fashion makers who - like Kofiga - are interested in the relationships that lay hidden in the cloth of garments. To make their stories even more tangible, Popovic invites four performers, who gently invite us connect to the showcased garments, without seeing or touching them.

Join us for a one-of-a kind and intimate afternoon of music, performance, film and of course: fashion.

Marina Abramović - Stedelijk Museum

Stedelijk Museum is presenting the largest retrospective the legendary Marina Abramović ever held in the Netherlands. Over 60 key works spanning five decades trace the development of the prolific oeuvre of the pioneer of performance art: from her early work, created in former Yugoslavia and in Amsterdam, to the pioneering performances with her partner Ulay and works from her solo practice, in which she is still active today.

The show features photos, videos, sculptures, and live reperformances of four iconic performances that will be staged in the Netherlands for the first time: Art Must Be Beautiful, Artist Must Be Beautiful (1975), Imponderabilia (work with Ulay) (1977), Luminosity (1997) and The House with the Ocean View (2002). As a visitor, you are invited to take part in two performances: Work Relation (work with Ulay) (1978) and Counting the Rice from the Abramović Method.

On show Mar 16 until Jul 14, 2024
More info: www.stedelijk.nl