The Aftermovie, State of Fashion | Ties That Bind, 2024
Dear reader,
We are pleased to present to you the Digital Recap of the State of Fashion Biennale 2024 | Ties that Bind. State of Fashion is an international fashion platform based in Arnhem, the Netherlands. We showcase alternatives to the current fashion system with different (online) programmes, publications and the Biennale. Our leading question is: how can fashion and textile contribute to a better world?
Leading up to the 2024 edition of the Biennale, we launched our Open Call for Curators in the autumn of 2023. We challenged applicants to respond to the main outcomes and findings of State of Fashion Biennale 2022 | Ways of Caring. Main questions were: how can the format of the Biennale actively challenge prevailing perspectives and make room for untold stories and experiences? How can we define the unequal power relations between the dominant Global North and the Global South and how can we share and disseminate non-Western knowledge?
In their proposal, curators Louise Bennetts and Rachel Dedman have decentralised the Biennale and invited interlocutor-curators from the Global South to form a team, thereby actively connecting people, practices and impact in local contexts. We are grateful that through this special approach to the Biennale we achieved our ambition as a platform to disseminate our programme, redistribute our funding beyond the context of the Netherlands and to continue our quest for change.
We look back on a fruitful collaboration with everyone involved and we look forward to a healthy fashion culture in which everyone is seen and appreciated. In this Digital Recap you can read more about all the makers, designers and artists, about the locations and our partners.
Iris Ruisch Director, State of Fashion
Ties that Bind brings together creative practices in fashion, textiles and contemporary art from across the Global South, critically dismantling notions of tradition, unravelling the political power of clothing, and shedding light on 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?
At the heart of this edition is a decentralised structure. From the beginning, we felt it was vital to forge an expanded curatorial team, and to channel the Biennale’s resources in multiple directions. We invited Kallol Datta, Sunny Dolat, and Hanayrá Negreiros to develop and curate projects for State of Fashion in their local context and communities. Ties that Bind has unfolded across four places: the home site in Arnhem, and three sister sites in Bengaluru, Nairobi, and São Paulo. Their sensational exhibitions have – through the work of 30 artists – explored textiles as a force for restorative care in India, interrogated the dynamic landscape of pan-African tradition, and taken water as a metaphor for sewing Black and Indigenous stories in Brazil.
In Arnhem, the home site in Rembrandt brought together the work of 26 artists and designers from over 20 countries, forging connections between practices from South America, North and Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, Balkans, South and East Asia. The exhibition was formed around four themes alongside core elements from each sister site project, with two further artist installations presented at Museum Arnhem and Rozet.
Rooted in the universal intimacy of fabric, Ties that Bind sought to amplify the kinships and connectedness among global practices, and shared the powerful human stories woven into what we wear.
Rachel Dedman and Louise Bennetts
Curators,
State of Fashion Biennale 2024 | Ties that Bind
1 ShanthiRoad, 19 March – 1 April 2024
Curated by Kallol Datta
Reflection Sister Site Bengaluru
In Bengaluru, what you wear makes you a marker of your community. Donning a pair of jeans could mean you lose your life to violence. Children miss school because of unwashed uniforms, thanks to zero water supply. The exhibition ... of involution, of languor... took place against a landscape where the body, the cloth and the act of swaddling oneself are and always will be political.
In a region where water is seen as a conduit to spiritual cleanliness, and as a means to attaining purity, Indu Antony and the women of Namma Katte address its scarcity by repurposing used clothing to highlight the structural inequalities in their everyday lives. Rujuta Rao uses the language of preservation, of bottling, to explore complex human conditions – macerating textile and non-textile belongings of her loved ones. Textile designer Swati Kalsi’s creative research examines the potential of forming a radical system of knowledge-sharing between herself and the craftspeople she works with, forging channels of care through assistance in technology, upskilling and design research.
Video introduction by Kallol
Interview with Kallol Datta
Photo
Can you elaborate a bit on your process for the Bengaluru sister site?
I wanted to approach it in a manner in which the artists take centre stage. Artists who I felt are often overlooked within the scope of the Indian art space. From the beginning, Indu Anthony was my central figure, because in her work she is able to pull in people from all facets of life whilst also being really unapologetic in her approach, wherein it kind of causes people to disperse because they can’t deal with having to read and face the truths that the work contains. I found it important that the projects evoked energies that, while they might not be very loud in that sense, would provide an experience of sorts for anybody coming into that exhibition.
But above all: I wanted to always keep the overarching theme in the back of my mind: ties that bind.
The community approach was such a key element from the location to the artistswhy was this important?
Language was a big part for the community approach to the sister site project. When it comes to exhibition texts, curatorial texts etc, it’s always in English here in India. Therefore walking into an exhibition in a museum or a gallery can be a very intimidating process if you don’t speak the language, which is why a lot
of artists and art enthusiasts wouldn’t want to step in. I was really happy seeing all the folks who came in for the opening and during the run of the exhibit. I wanted intimidation out of the picture and found it important that people were able to participate and I think we succeeded.
In your programme you showed work that also represented different narratives and you made sure this was represented in all layers of the exhibition - how did you go about here?
This too connects to language because when we talk about textiles and fashion in India, the conversation is still tied to the lowest common denominator, which is Bollywood right?
We’d like to think we’re having critical conversations in certain spaces, but that’s still not happening, which is why I wanted all three artists to be aligned to three brilliant writers who were commissioned as part of this sister side project to critically write on each artist’s project what they were doing for the Biennale. And I felt so happy that we had three different approaches from three very vastly differing writers who presented such great points of views for how textile is used as a medium for change, which hasn’t really been written about in India in the past.
“I found it important that the projects evoked energies that, while they might not be very loud in that sense, would provide an experience of sorts for anybody coming into that exhibition.”
A red thread through all three of the projects is this idea of reframing clothing or garment and also seeing it as a political tool - how did you select these artists and their projects?
Trauma has informed all three artists, works or projects, but there was no trauma bonding in the work. It was so well navigated, included and assigned to its due place. But there were also so many larger questions posed through all three artists’ work, and primarily through textiles. And I thought that they were also such great conversation starters.
“I really wanted this to happen for the artists. I chose to work in an exhibition format because I wanted these artists to have this as part of their CV’s and portfolios, and I felt this was the most meaningful way, because the artists in question have used the documentation of this project to apply for grants, for fellowships, for residencies.”
Talking about a conversation starter, can you expand a bit on the title and its meaning?
This happened because of multiple things. One was the pace and this was also informed by the three artists; the pace at which Swati suddenly abruptly stopped her clothes making practice because she had to move from the north in Delhi to the south in Bangalore, or how patiently Rujuta sat unpacking, packing, unboxing her works, and how delicately she treated them and spent an entire day just looking at plinths. And I thought this idea of time was really interesting. Because, I mean, nothing’s new, everything’s always coming back in the context that we provide.
The exhibition design was really thoughtful and really amplified the three works – how did you approach this?
Everything was deliberate. The colour blue was vital because water played a big part in the region as there’s a big water shortage crisis in Bengaluru. It also links to Swati’s research as a lot of the artisan and crafts group that Swati spoke to are based in cities which came up around river basins such as Varanasi and Kolkata. The plinths used for Rujuta works reflect the Goan-
Portuguese heritage in the state in which she grew up, and she still has immediate family, which gives it a deliberate link to the work. The shape that held Indu’s blouses were inspired by a kaudi blanket that was moving in the wind while draped over the wall opposite her community center, Namma Katte.
Aniket Kumar Rathore, who I worked with on the design, is just such a sensitive, conscious, creative person and he had 1000 ideas, and I wish we could have implemented all of them, but I’m really happy with how it turned out.
I think it was really visible how you cared for the objects, for these stories, for these artists - can you say something about the impact?
I really wanted this to happen for the artists. I chose to work in an exhibition format because I wanted these artists to have this as part of their CV’s and portfolios, and I felt this was the most meaningful way, because the artists in question have used the documentation of this project to apply for grants, for fellowships, for residencies.
I’m so happy how it has been received by people who came for the exhibit. It was also really nice to have people outside of the fashion and textile ecosystem witness the works.
by Kallol Datta.
Photo
T K Sandeep
by Kallol Datta.
Photo
T K Sandeep
Indu Antony
This series of 15 saree blouses are hand-embroidered with short, sentencelong stories in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu about women’s experiences of the significant water scarcity issues currently impacting Bengaluru. The pieces are made by the women of Namma Katte, a leisure space created by Antony for women to ‘sit, chill, talk, sing, gossip, scratch and scream, and do whatever they want in’. The texts describe a myriad of concerns and frustrations they experience: from obligations to bathe their husbands and children before themselves to the physical burden of constant water collection.
• Indu Anthony, Taṇṇīr illāmal rattattai eppaṭi kaḻuvuvēṉ (Without Water How will I Wash the Blood Off’), 2024, suite of 15 embroidered saree blouses made from reclaimed and repurposed textiles, 2024
• The women of Namma Katte: Amala, Nirmala, Mala, Sheila, Glory, Bagya, Farzana, Soumya, Ambika, Chaitra, Devamma, Sabamma, Shabana, Kauser, Selvi, Yellama, Lakshmi and Vijaya
• Rusha Bose, Namma Katte, 4’20, 2024
Rujuta Rao
Rujuta Rao’s tinctures for fictional cocktails consist of pieces of clothing which have been worn by people who were close to her, and loved by her, submerged in jars of alcohol. The work considers both memory and preservation: combined with the disembodied garments, the liquids become infusions of their previous wearer. This subtle process is one Chandrima Bhattacharya describes as seeming to ‘combine calm and deviance in equal measure.’
• Rujuta Rao, Tinctura, 2024, mixed materials in ethyl alcohol, courtesy of the artist
Swati Kalsi
Kalsi has worked for over two decades with Indian artisans, as part of international social development projects, as well as within her own fashion atelier. Her research focuses on how Indian crafts - from embroidery to weaving, dyeing, or leatherwork - might prosper in a time where technological progress and mechanisation render handiwork precarious. How can artisans adapt, what is lacking in their training, and what tools are needed to create self-sustaining systems of knowledge exchange to ensure the future of these living traditions?
• Swati Kalsi, Research Phase 01, featuring data collected from 100+ artisans, 18 artisan group leaders, 3 NGOs, 10 young designers, and 60 Indian and international students, 2024
Circle Art Gallery, 4 – 14 April 2024
Reflection Sister Site Nairobi
Video introduction by Sunny
Curated by Sunny Dolat
Decolonisation movements around the world mark a time of growing joy in the magics and realities of being African, of African descent, and connected to African traditions, customs, rituals and cultures. Fashion has been the cauldron for many brewing political conversations, as design practices expand the myriad ways there are to be, look, perform and express being African.
Approaching designers and artists as contemporary custodians of heritage, Tradition(al) spotlights and celebrates the nuances of culture and heritage as they manifest in fashion across Africa. The exhibition draws attention to the materials, expressions, silhouettes, and knowledge systems that have – in surviving to this day and age – resisted the oppressions of imperial erasure. As makers embrace, evolve, interrogate and dismantle ideas of tradition, such practices continue their legacies and begin new life-cycles.
Am I still of this soil, stripped of my beads and charms?
Am I still of this soil, with my forced fluency in these foreign tongues?
Am I still of this soil, if my body has never been rooted in its rituals and dances?
Am I still of this soil, when I’m ashamed to pray to the mountain God?
Will this soil accept me still?
State of Fashion 2024 | Tradition(al) by Sunny Dolat. Pat Mbela and Sunny Dolat, Video by Lagos Fashion Week
State of Fashion 2024 | Tradition(al) by Sunny Dolat. Designers Panel, video by Lagos Fashion Week
State of Fashion 2024 | Tradition(al) by Sunny Dolat - Lagos Fashion Week Panel
by
Interview with Sunny Dolat
In your curatorial statement you introduce the approach of seeing designers and artists as contemporary custodians of heritage, can you elaborate on why you chose this focus?
In my curatorial statement, I wanted to acknowledge designers and artists as contemporary custodians of heritage because of their vital role in sustaining and celebrating traditional knowledge and practices. I’ve always been very aware of the necessary incentives provided by designers to keep heritage and indigenous processes going, because the unfortunate reality is, in this capitalistic society we exist in, financial incentives drive the survival of heritage and indigenous processes. I don’t necessarily think that designers are aware of their role in the stewardship of this heritage, which makes it even more precious. For them, it comes from a deep desire to preserve and honour the craft. So I wanted to honour this labour, alongside that of their artisans, in the preservation of these ancestral design legacies.
Across the Continent, there are many African designers who, in some way, shape or form, are engaging with indigenous knowledge systems and techniques. These methods, by their nature, are inherently sustainable and ethical, because of how slow and intentional they are. Industralisation has always taught us to strive for efficiency. Everything should be breathlessly faster and quicker, and indigenous processes
are the complete antithesis of that, they emphasise depth, care and mindful making.
Could you elaborate on your selection process?
My selection process for the exhibition centred on a unifying theme: every featured artist or designer incorporates traditional elements into their work— whether through materials, knowledge systems, or processes. This connection to heritage was crucial, as it showcased how contemporary practices can be informed by, and in dialogue with, tradition.
Equally important was ensuring a panAfrican scope for the exhibition. This broader representation was driven by a desire to create what I call “moments of encounters” across the continent— opportunities for different regions, cultures, and practices to intersect, communicate, and learn from one another. Ultimately, we represented 10 countries, bringing together a diverse mix of materials and aesthetics. The range included, for example, Johanna Bramble, a textile artist known for her work with weaving traditions, and Dickens Otieno, a fine artist whose practice is deeply shaped and informed by weaving techniques. This blend of disciplines and traditions was intentional, reflecting the rich, multifaceted nature of contemporary artistic and cultural expression on the continent.
Tradition(al) is a deceptive term and in your title you play with it, can you explain the meaning?
“and quicker, and indigenous processes are the complete antithesis of that, they emphasise depth, care and mindful making.”
When it comes to the way that African aesthetics and design aesthetics in particular, are understood, there tends to be a rather
singular and narrow perception as to what African design looks like. For me, it’s important to always challenge and expand people’s perceptions and imagination of what design from the Continent is. With a title like Tradition(al), I anticipated that many people would come with preconceptions. However, the exhibition aimed to surprise and redefine those expectations through the featured work and techniques at its core.
While the materials were still deeply traditional, the outputs in many cases were a little bit unexpected, defying conventional assumptions.
In our brief to you we left it very open what kind of project you would like to develop, it could be an exhibition but it really didn’t have to be. You mentioned this urgency for an exhibition because aside from the interest in fashion from the continent of the Global North you mentioned that designers don’t see each other’s work. It’s again, an interplay between these dominant structures of where it’s shown and by whom. Could you explain the urgency of this approach?
Even before I started working as a curator I’ve always enjoyed visiting exhibitions, and one of the things that always struck me, was that most of the times I’ve seen work from African artists whose works I admire, has mostly been somewhere in the Global North.
There are, of course, various reasons for this. Across the Continent, we have limited museums and galleries specifically dedicated to fashion and dress. This means that opportunities to stage such exhibitions, whether in dedicated venues or as part of biennales, remain scarce. But this for me underscores the urgent need to have more exhibitions on the Continent.
This was certainly echoed by several
audience members who remarked it was their first time to see such a breadth of African design excellence in person and in their locality.
The exhibition design was also very grounded in this pan-african approach, both literal as conceptual - can you walk us through it?
One of the things that I’ve always loved about the format of exhibitions is that you’re able to reframe clothing and how we think about it. I thought it would be a nice opportunity to pull on some of the intellectual and philosophical threads that exist inherently in the work, be it in the making processes themselves or in the origin and conceptualisation of the work. But most importantly, to tie this not only to the people, but also the land which has a hand in shaping and informing these ideas. To highlight this connection, we filled the gallery with soil, symbolising belonging and rootedness. On the continent, soil carries profound meaning; it is a reminder of where we come from, a link to our heritage, and a symbol of identity and place. In an era where belonging can feel increasingly elusive and precious, this element was a deliberate gesture to ground and tie together the themes of the exhibition.
How was the impact in the local context?
The turnout and feedback from the Nairobi site was overwhelmingly positive, it was such a confirmation of the appetite that exists across the Continent for this kind of programming and exhibition.
As practitioners who work within the fashion space, I think there’s many things that we can take for granted, because we’re so immersed in the work and methods, we get accustomed to certain kinds of framing which may perhaps not be very mainstream. This
realisation was made even more striking through the number of attendees who shared sentiments like, “I’ve never really thought about fashion this way. I’ve never considered clothing as such a deeply political thing.” This kind of reaction was deeply impactful, illustrating a shift in perception and a new appreciation for the complexities of fashion.
“For me, it’s important to always challenge and expand people’s perceptions and imagination of what design from the Continent is. With a title like Tradition(al), I anticipated that many people would come with preconceptions. However, the exhibition aimed to surprise and redefine those expectations through the featured work and techniques at its core.”
Tradition(al) by Sunny Dolat.
Photo by Ian Gichohi @zururer.
Tradition(al) by Sunny Dolat.
Photo by Ian Gichohi @zururer.
MONO
Enam
Geli, Togo
Chacha Robe
This robe seamlessly blends the rich cultural heritage of three African nations: Ghana, Togo, and Mali. At its core lies the vibrant textile lokpo, sourced from the Volta region of Ghana, renowned for its intricate patterns and bold colours. Crafted with skill and precision, the garment is sewn by a talented Togolese tailor, whose expertise and attention to detail ensures a flawless fit. Drawing on generations of tradition and technique, the garment is infused with a sense of authenticity and craftsmanship that speaks to the heart of African fashion.
But the journey of this garment doesn’t end there. It finds its final flourish in the hands of a Malian tailor, who employs a unique fringing technique reminiscent of his country’s rich embroidery heritage. Each stitch adds elegance and sophistication, evolving the garment further as a work of art.
Together, these elements come together to create a celebration of Pan-African unity and creativity.
• Materials: lokpo – cotton, silk, lurex
• Techniques: handweaving, embroidery
• Tradition(al) by Sunny Dolat. Photo by Ian Gichohi @zururer
Johanna Bramble Créations
Johanna Bramble Créations, Côte d’Ivoire Re-sources
Re-Sources is a series of textiles in natural fibers - cotton, raphia and abaca. The master weaver’s gesture creates a link with the elements. Both source and resource, the artisan witnesses the evolution of civilisations, and carries within him the heritage and vision of multiple identities. He is, like any living element on earth, in perpetual movement.
Materials: cotton, raphia and abaca
• Techniques: handweaving
•
Re-Sources spotlights the infinite potential of a fine technique, in alignment with tradition. These weavings, traditionally called “pagne tissés’ or ‘serru rabal” in Wolof, are well cared for in Senegalese homes. Often considered women’s treasures, many perfumed with incense and loaded with symbols and specificities depending on intention and use, they are present during key moments in life, ranging from birth until the last breath, even as shields against the evil eye. Their centrality in culture showcases the ability of each weaver to see themselves in their weaving, as they would see themselves in a mirror. Weaving thus reveals the weaver, in both personal identity and within the universality of their communities. Johanna Bramble thus places humans at the vulnerable heart of life, esteeming this precious tangible and intangible heritage.
Image credit: Tradition(al) by Sunny Dolat. Photo by Ian Gichohi @zururer
Poisa Africa
Patricia Mbela, Kenya
Phoenix
Taita beadwork was all but extinct before Patricia Mbela came across a surprising piece in the stores of the Nairobi National Museum, which led her down a path of unbelievable discovery. She, a Taita woman, had never seen the traditional beaded garments of her people, and this moment filled her with an overwhelming sense of both loss and longing, grieving what she had never known she did not know, and dreaming of things she had never imagined before.
Patricia spent the next decade harnessing her expertise in contemporary design in the tireless work of being re-introduced to her ancestral inheritance. With images and beads, she painstakingly forced her hands to remember through hours of trial and error. Patricia and her cousin Ruthiana, whom she taught along the way, are the only two Taita women who use the art of their forebears in this way, creating garments whose existence is urgent.
Patricia’s piece, “Phoenix”, evokes the extraordinary image of the mythical bird it is named for, both in its warm colours shifting from a rich yellow to a fiery red, and in its graceful silhouette, featuring a gorgeous flamboyance of beads on one shoulder that is reminiscent of magnificent plumage.
• Technique: hand beading
Materials: plastic beads, glass beads, metal beads, wire
Image credit: Tradition(al) by Sunny Dolat. Photo by Ian Gichohi @zururer
Kikoromeo
Iona McCreath, Kenya Ewala
Cultures are evolutionary, their constant is change. Thus, our preservation of them should not be to try and freeze them in time, but to allow them the ability to continue this evolutionary process. With the current state of the world, and the extent to which we have eradicated, we must sometimes go back in order to go forward; go back to the rituals and processes we can remember and identify clearly, and from there, begin the process of evolution.
However, through this evolution, we cannot define a universal concept of what is important, we must consequently acknowledge our own individuality and realise that what is important to one is different to that which is important to the other. Thus, what we will each take with us on our journeys will serve to bring forth different aspects from that which we all come.
The preservation will consequently come from the acceptance of
EWALA HAND-PAINTED COAT, Hand-painted by fine artist Eltayeb Dawelbait, each piece created is one of a kind and revered as a collector’s item. Ideated in the early 2000’s, the coat was reborn in 2019 during Iona McCreath’s foray into the KikoRomeo archives as the brand’s new Creative Director, reinterpreting pieces from her early childhood memories of KikoRomeo photoshoots and fashion shows. The motifs on the garment are all different as each one is individually hand painted; however, the placement of each motif is indicated by the designer, with a focus on positions that flatter the body.
evolution and change bound with the acknowledgment of the importance of our individual cultures.
Through this acceptance and acknowledgment, we will serve to not drop one culture to cling to another that we deem to be more dominant or more “developed” but will come to understand our space and existence as a hybridisation of a series of different centers, each as integral to our humanity as the other.
The pieces I create speak to the above, serving as individual time capsules of the present moment that are influenced by what has been and indicate what is to come. Consequently, collaborations are an important part of this process as they facilitate a confluence of perspectives giving an even more valuable depiction of the hybridisation that makes up everyday life.
• Image credit: Tradition(al) by Sunny Dolat. Photo by Ian Gichohi @zururer
EWALA TEXTILE, This iteration of the Ewala textile was developed by Iona McCreath and Eltayeb Dawelbait for KikoRomeo’s SS24 collection. Informed by the heritage of the brand and its long-standing relationship with artist Eltayeb, these hand painted textiles pay homage to tradition whilst forging a direction of their own. This textile is inspired by Turkana heritage, foregrounding a pattern developed from different cultural elements including artefacts, beadwork, and everyday objects. Materials: cotton. Techniques: hand painting.
HAWII
Hawii Midekssa, Ethiopia
Ye Balger Lij Coat
“Ye Balager Lij” is an Ethiopian term that translates to “the child of a countryman(woman).” It is derogatory slang, describing rural and countryside people as illiterate or not modern enough. This coat is part of a collection named to reclaim and reimagine this word in their favour, paying homage to the experiences and influences of each generation. It further explores the interplay between rural and urban experiences, highlighting them as part of wider Ethiopian family traditions and cultural values.
Material: cotton, gabardine
Techniques: customised block print of Ethiopian alphabet
• Image credit: Tradition(al) by Sunny Dolat. Photo by Ian Gichohi @zururer
Moshions
Moses Turahirwa, Rwanda Shana
If our ancestors showed up today, what would they say about our way of life?
In the capsule collection Imandwa, Moses reinterprets the traditional Rwandan dress, known as mushanana, by exploring the influence of pre-colonial generations on emotions, fashion, and nature, in dramatic pieces that represent freedom and fluidity.
Imandwa invites ancestral aesthetics from across Africa—such as Rwanda’s drapes and wooden shields, along with Tanzania and Kenya’s Maasai dress—into a modern sartorial expression. Turahirwa also uses the collection to challenge the limits of gendered clothing and toxic masculinity, via a daring interplay of traditional and contemporary silhouettes.
• Materials: wool, silk, cow horn
Image credit: Tradition(al) by Sunny Dolat. Photo by Ian Gichohi @zururer.
Loza Maléombho
Loza Maléombho, Cote d’Ivoire Polar Dress, Kpele Belt
Loza Maléombho’s fashion career is a testament to her ability to bridge the gap between tradition and modernity, creating a space where the rich expressions of Africanness are celebrated and embraced by a global audience. Her work is consistent in finding new sites for traditional motifs, such as her recurring and iconic use of the Baoulé mask as seen on pieces such as the kpele belt and koh plus sandals. Her deep study of precolonial history, spirituality, and customs shines through her work, enabling her to build bridges between space and time, revisiting elements of heritage in futuristic ways.
The Polar dress is one example of this trademark, featuring bold and eyecatching cutouts set in a deconstructed silhouette, expressed in a unique tie-dye cotton print.
• Material: cotton, leather, brass
Techniques: hand dyed –tie & dye
Tradition(al)
Image credit:
by Sunny Dolat. Photo by Ian Gichohi @zururer
I AMIS I GO
Patchwork Bark Cloth Suit
Bubu Ogisi, Nigeria
For their SS20 collection “supreme higher entity” IAMISIGO collaborated with bark cloth artist and historian, Fred Mutebi, who has dedicated his life on earth to promoting bark cloth. Originally discovered by a hunter to trap animals, this ancient heritage fabric is created from the Mutuba tree, whose bark is peeled off and manipulated to generate the strips that make traps; a process that entailed beating, stretching, and soaking of the fibers.
Serving various social and cultural functions in the Baganda culture of Uganda, Bark cloth has continued to be a connecting thread between past, present and future generations of Africans. Through political, social, cultural, and economic transformations, Bark cloth is now associated with the poor, and as such, become a symbol of economic deprivation. This has negatively affected the present bark cloth industry, when, ironically, it is one of the most sustainable fibers in the world.
Materials: bark cloth
• Techniques: hand hammered
• Image credit: Tradition(al) by Sunny Dolat. Photo by Ian Gichohi @zururer
HiSi Studio
Wanjiku Angela, Kenya Are Some Dots? Are Some Circles?
The famed African embrace of “ubuntu”, a collective and communal understanding of all, often belies an exclusion of different vulnerable and marginalised peoples in both traditional and modern times. People living with disability have suffered ostracisation and prejudice, setting the stage for violent discrimination and lack of care from ignorant societies.
Hisi Studios begin from the dots and circles of the Braille tactile script used by the visually impaired, inviting the wider fashion industry to join the language’s traditional users in a multisensory engagement with fabric that embraces the diversity of human experience. Wanjiku presents words of hope and affirmation spelled out in a puffed print, creating a unique expression of texture and form. Her translation of tenderness and inclusion in fabric allows everyone to feel and touch it for themselves, and carry home a deeper understanding of communication and accessibility.
• Materials: cotton
• Techniques: screen print –puff print
• Image credit: Tradition(al) by Sunny Dolat. Photo by Ian Gichohi @zururer
Papa Oppong
Papa Oppong, Ghana/USA
Stage IV - Witchcraft
Papa Oppong, in bearing close and intimate witness to the lives of his mother and grandmother who raised him, along with thousands of other Ghanaian women, explores their relationship with power and their society’s reactions to it by spelling out a five-stage life cycle, consisting of birth, puberty, marriage, witchcraft and death. The witchcraft stage is defined by violent pushback on the women’s increased social status and power, wherein women of several communities have found themselves physically relegated to witch camps if they do not use this power in socially acceptable ways, based on varied misogynistic and oppressive beliefs.
• Image credit: Tradition(al) by Sunny Dolat. Photo by Ian Gichohi @zururer
Papa is known for his distinctive ability to easily embed diverse pop sensibilities within traditional forms, aesthetics, and methods. Yopoo is therefore Papa’s render of this game of thrones via silhouette, colour, scale and symbols that transcend time and culture. The Witchcraft piece defiantly embraces women’s strength that is traditionally shunned and feared, affirming it through the use of raffia in the apron fringes as used in the mud huts of the witch camps. The garment further incorporates a nipple-freeing silicone breastplate, and an extravagant array of different sizes of sequins and paillettes marching all over its deconstructed form, as an ode to glamour and fearlessness.
Katush
SHIRT, The Ujana Shirt is where style and soft structures strike up a stylish conversation. Its relaxed fit also offers playful pockets and a metal zip fastening with handmade detailing at its end. Engaging in Katungulu’s investigation of volumes derived from discourse on the guineafowl, the intersection of curves and straight lines gives rise to delicate structural shapes encircling the hips of the wearer.
Katungulu Mwendwa, Kenya
Ujana Shirt, Pamba Skirt
Black Bird, a Kanga, embodies a literal journey into the world of the Guinea fowl, inspired by a traditional folktale from the 1930s. The story from Kamba folklore, unfurls the tale of the chicken and the guinea fowl, exploring why the former got domesticated and the latter did not. It recounts how the once-close friendship between the two birds soured when the chicken deceived the guinea fowl by concealing the advantages of domestication and life with human beings. Katungulu found herself curious about the possibility of weaving traditional folklore into her creations, beginning with an exploration focused on the guinea fowl in this case. ‘Black Bird, a Kanga’ emerges as a testament to this exploration, characterised by soft structures crafted from locally sourced handwoven cotton and wool. Each piece encapsulates layers of texture and collaborative creativity, reflecting a fable woven into fabric.
SKIRT, The Pamba Skirt is meticulously crafted from locally sourced, handwoven wool and cotton. This exquisite piece is rendered in a timeless pencil fit, designed to accentuate the beauty of the female form, while functional pockets at the waist offer convenience. A center slit lends a playful touch of charm to the ensemble. Materials: cotton,wool, bone. Technique: hand woven.
UJANA
PAMBA
Image credit: Tradition(al) by Sunny Dolat. Photo by Ian Gichohi @zururer
Ushanga Kenya Initiative
The many women’s groups under the umbrella of the Ushanga Kenya Initiative are artisans without borders, sharing their craft beyond their villages and communities. The beads are one way of carrying and wearing their traditions, as part of their pastoralist heritage, used to mark and celebrate movement of individuals between age sets, age groups and phases of life, depending on predetermined colours and patterns, and sharing their dynamic identities with each other. These long beloved beaded ornaments and garments have become an iconic part of shared East African identity over the decades.
Beyond the techniques of beadwork being handed down from generation to
generation, the women’s work within the initiative are a symbol of many changes as regards the ways work and outputs are viewed in the fashion industry. While their high quality pieces are in demand locally and internationally, with the possibilities for value addition further expanding via partnerships and commissions, the women are leading the way in striking a flexible balance between free expression of their traditions for themselves, and enabling the sharing of their cultures on the bodies of others. The women are at once both artisans and archivists, while remaining fully themselves as mothers, daughters and community members, thus holistically safeguarding their cultural legacies.
• Image credit: Tradition(al) by Sunny Dolat. Photo by Ian Gichohi @zururer
Maxhosa Africa
Laduma Ngxokolo, South Africa
Golf Shirt, Cardigan
Xhosa coming of age rituals are the cultural initiation for thousands of boys in South Africa’s Eastern Cape. Alongside the circumcision that shows their elevation to manhood, each initiate is called upon to leave the trappings of their boyhood behind, up to and including all their old clothes. This enables their parents and relatives to buy them new clothes that are a stronger reflection of their new status.
Driven by a strong desire to explore knitwear design solutions that would be culturally suitable for modern amakrwala (Xhosa initiates), Laduma Ngxokolo founded MAXHOSA AFRICA, a South African brand in 2012. As a former initiate himself, Laduma’s premium pieces began as an effervescent celebration of traditional Xhosa aesthetics. He began with an exploration of their beadwork patterns, complete with inherent symbolism and bright colours.
The golf shirt and cardigan on display are from the SS ‘17 collection ‘Apropriyeyshin’, constructed in flat classic silhouettes. The pieces aim to express the beauty in cultural exchange between Western and Xhosa dress-codes, in a modern take that makes a bold and sophisticated statement.
• Materials: linen, viscose
• Technique: knit
• Image credit: Tradition(al) by Sunny Dolat. Photo by Ian Gichohi @zururer
Guided by the cultural and spiritual philosophies of the Yoruba people viewed through a queer lens, Lagos Space Programme places the heritage craft and sartorial expressions of the Yoruba in dialogue with resonant cultural heritages from around the world. In doing so, the label creates a future culture that can be shared by a global audience. From its founding to its (re)naming by Portuguese explorers, to its emergence as the epicenter of a new global youth culture, the Lagos metropolis has always been the physical manifestation of Yoruba culture in dialogue with the rest of the world. Lagos Space Programme invokes both an experimental design exploration and a metaphorical portal into a future with no blueprints or limitations, only endless possibilities. One of LSP’s explorations is traditional Yoruba dress codes, leading to their replicas of and homages to different pieces, including the wide legged workwear trousers featured here.
Central to the LSP vision is Thompson’s commitment to West African artisanship and harnessing these crafts as tools for activism. His interrogation of adire eleko, the indigo resist-dyed textile, becomes post-adire, as his team in Lagos meticulously hand-draw his motifs onto cloth using the traditional feather brush method, and then send it to a family of dyers in Abeokuta, Ogun State “Adire is very much a fine art, a way to tell your story through fabric. It’s also a dying craft,” he says. “I’m working with the best of the best, people who have been trained by master dyers, because it deserves that respect. And then, I move the storytelling forward by incorporating queer semiotics to speak for myself and to my community.” The post-adire hoodie carries this beautiful and layered making process into the casualness of streetwear, turning even everyday informal pieces into rich documents and narratives.
• Image credit: Tradition(al) by Sunny Dolat. Photo by Ian Gichohi @zururer
Emmy Kasbit
Emmanuel Okoro, Nigeria Akwete Suit
Emmanuel Okoro’s brand, Emmy Kasbit, was started in Nigeria in 2014, and is known for bringing aesthetically clean, architectural design principles into his dealings with traditional staples. His work is also revered for its use of different kinds of Nigerian indigenous textiles. Chief among them is the famous akwete, which was first woven in the town of the same name by the Igbo people in Abia State. Akwete is traditionally woven by women on uniquely wide looms, and it can take several days to finish one piece, which can serve as a wrapper covering the whole body.
The suit presented here, from the SS18 collection “An Ode To My Father”, features the brand’s inaugural akwete, worked into an asymmetrical slim cut suit characterized by a rippling fringe.
• Materials: akwete - cotton, silk
• Technique: hand woven
• Image credit: Tradition(al) by Sunny Dolat. Photo by Ian Gichohi @zururer
Dickens Otieno
Dickens Otieno, Kenya
Still Life: School Uniform
Dickens Otieno is known for being the “Mabati Tailor” for his enchanting alchemical transformation of used aluminium cans into the warp and weft threads of new, sculptural textiles, allowing an intimate glimpse into the architecture of weaving. His process, informed by indigenous weaving practices, also looks at forms made from papyrus, raffia and palm, the fabric colours and patterns in his mother’s tailoring workshop, objects piled high in markets and other magical moments and memories in his immediate surroundings.
The still life is an intimate portrait of a quintessential item of clothing which is supposed to be the great class ‘equaliser’—the school uniform— and the dizzying memories and emotions that are attached to it throughout years of learning. The piece captures a quiet, everyday moment, in a grounding and dignifying way that invites reflection.
Materials: aluminium
• Techniques: hand weaving
• Image credit: Tradition(al) by Sunny Dolat. Photo by Ian Gichohi @zururer
Lukhanyo Mdingi
Lukhanyo Mdingi, South Africa
Woman’s Burkina Two Piece Suit
The synergistic partnership between Cape Town based designer Lukhanyo Mdingi and the Burkinabé weaving cooperative CABES-GIE, resulted in the invention of two new weaving methods, as well as the generation of over two hundred thousand meters of Faso Dan Fani, the Burkinabé national fabric which enjoys culturally protected status, in processes that embraced the highest social and ecological ethical standards that were contextually possible.
In a post introducing the collaboration, Lukhayo had this to say: “Craft has always been at the heart of the LM label; but being in the presence of those behind the making allowed me to understand the honesty & integrity within the provenance of it all.” Lukhayo described working with the weavers to blend cotton and metal threads, as well as painstaking colour matching to get exact Pantone shades. He added, “It really is a collaboration, and I rely on their ingenuity. This is how it should be: really understanding how they can add their expertise, to see how they can tighten the design and really make it a lot stronger.”
• Materials: faso dan fanicotton, lurex
• Technique: handwoven
Different versions of the precious Faso Dan Fani textile feature in the iconic stand-alone Coutts woven scarf, as well as in the Lukhanyo Mdingi two piece women’s suit from the Burkina collection.
Image credit: Tradition(al) by Sunny Dolat. Photo by Ian Gichohi @zururer
Através das águas costuramos outras histórias brasileiras / Through the Waters
We Sew Other Brazilian Stories
Centro Cultural São Paulo, 5 – 7 April 2024
Curated by Hanayrá Negreiros
Reflection Sister Site São Paulo
Video introduction by Hanayrá
It is impossible to think about Brazil without travelling through bodies of water. From the sea, we inherit civilisational torrents of African nations that were ported here and thrived in countercolonial resistance. From freshwater, we feel the springs of struggle of the Indigenous people of this land emerge. Seeing water as a medium and crossings as a conceptual key to understanding the country, we orient ourselves through the knowledge of Brazilian Indigenous and Afro-diasporic people.
This exhibition rose like a collective embroidery, where memory becomes the guiding thread, sewing the method, and imagination the backdrop. The waters and sewing evoked in the title act as symbolic bridges between past, present, and future. It brought together commissioned works and pieces from the collections of artists whose practices and voices knit stories and memories of their communities. Interweaving politics, spirituality and poetry, they reimagine Brazil. Their work is an unstoppable force, originating from the collective core, present in our bodies, in our desires, in our future: the sewing of our own history.
Coletivo Da Quebrada Através das águas costuramos outras histórias brasileiras [Through the Waters We Sew Other Brazilian Stories]. Video, 2024.
Produced by Coletivo da Quebrada, the short film documented the processes of the exhibition Através das águas costuramos outras histórias brasileiras [Through the Waters, We Sew Other Brazilian Stories], held at the São Paulo Cultural Center, Brazil, in April 2024. Curated by Hanayrá Negreiros, the project serves as the Brazilian sister site of the State of Fashion Biennale 2024. The recordings consist of interviews with some of the artists and the curator, revealing the works and concepts that gave rise to the exhibition, including water cosmologies, female, Indigenous, and Afro-Brazilian knowledge and practices, as well as the potential connections between fashion, visual arts, politics, spirituality, and ancestry.
Interview with Hanayrá Negreiros
I would like to ask you to take us along in your process. Can you elaborate a bit on why you chose to develop this programme in such a concentrated manner? It was staged for one weekend, which gave it an urgency to be there, and it was also filled with talks. We decided to focus on the format of a fashion exhibition because it’s the artistic language I work with as a fashion curator here in Brazil. And also I felt the importance because here in São Paulo, nor in Brazil, we don’t have a lot of fashion exhibitions. Fashion is not a common artistic approach we see in artist institutions like museums or art galleries or cultural centres. With this project we were able to fill this gap in São Paulo. Besides this, I’m also a teacher within the fashion field and love to think of talks as opportunities to connect people. It was therefore important to develop this interplay between an exhibition and talks in the same space.
In your exhibition and event programme you made a point of selecting solely indigenous makers and worked from a female perspective, why was this approach vital for you?
For me, being a black female curator, the choice to work solely with black and indigenous artists and people was evident from the beginning. Here in Brazil, we have a lot of issues with racism and we found it important to shed light on this. We believe that BIPOC makers need to be given a platform so that they can speak for themselves. But also, as you know this programme used water as a metaphor and when we talk about water here in Brazil, it’s always connected to feminism. Therefore this focus came about naturally.
With the exhibition you made a case for showing alternative Brazilian fashion narratives, which also was portrayed in the title, can you elaborate on the interplay on water and how it also turned into a working method?
Creating this exhibition and project was guided by fluid emotions. In Afro Brazilian cosmologies we believe that water is deeply connected with love, emotions and our subconsciousness. When I was working on the selection of the artists, I kept thinking about the water and to be swimming and to be submerged, and just let go of feelings.
It’s an exercise of letting go and to go with the waters. So through the waters, we see resilience, other Brazilian stories. To see the possibilities in alternative narratives, Black, Indigenous narratives, female narratives, and the water is the vehicle.
“We believe that BIPOC makers need to be given a platform so that they can speak for themselves”
How did this concept flow throughout the process of the specific commissioned pieces?
I wanted the curatorial process to be as fluid as water. I remember that I shared the theme of our exhibition about the waters, the rivers and seas with Dayana and Sallisa. I did not give them a specific brief because I wanted to give them the space to just develop. It’s of course difficult as a curator to let go, but I believe in trusting the artist’s process.
I saw a beautiful artwork appearing in front of my eyes, that was developed by a rich group of indigenous artists, and how it interacted with the public was so amazing.
This interaction became clear in the full programme as you gave the artists the opportunity to showcase their work in your exhibition but you also curated a series of talks, why did you find this important?
It’s the only way we can achieve change: if voices are heard. I really believe that art is political, so it’s impossible to do anything about art without this kind of discussion. When we make space for the audience and the public to engage we connect knowledge, reflections and the meaning of their work. But aside from that, it’s also a celebration of everyone involved.
This interaction between the works and the audience was so special to witness. In your opening speech, you referred to the exhibition as a group of people speaking together, where there’s space for silence between the artworks, and we can listen to them even though they’re not using words. We feel it in our bodies. Can you reflect on the impact on the makers of this show, but also for the audience – what came back to you as a response?
I think it was so powerful to have Brazilian Indigenous women in the spotlight and as part of a fashion
exhibition. This is not something that is commonly seen here. I remember seeing the surprise of the public to see these artworks and seeing themselves represented. It was a sacred process of exchange.
You also mentioned this process changed you as a curator. How so?
It was the first exhibition that I created on my own. I feel so blessed to have received this opportunity and to do this project in my town, in my city. To be able to connect different artists from different parts of Brazil and with different backgrounds is so special. In Portuguese, we say Curadora (in Portuguese, the word “curator” means “curadora,” the person who heals). We are caretakers of the artworks. I think it is very, very powerful to see how we can achieve change because we are dealing with people, their emotions, and in our case, we are dealing with political questions. So everything is united.
“We are caretakers of the artworks. I think it is very, we can achieve change because we are dealing their emotions, and in our case, we are dealing So everything is united.“
very, very powerful to see how dealing with people, dealing with political questions.
State of Fashion 2024
by Hanayrá Negreiros.
Photos by Alile Dara Onawale
State of Fashion 2024 by Hanayrá Negreiros.
Photos by Alile Dara Onawale
Aline Motta
Se o mar tivesse varandas [If the sea had balconies]
If the sea had balconies, a 2-channel video installation was built around an impossibility. Creating new verses for a well-known Portuguese rhyme, the piece reaches out from one end of the Atlantic to the other, bridging Brazil and the African continent, both metaphorically and spiritually, as the artist’s own family pictures flow in and out of the water. A mirror of the unconscious and our own inner self, water is seen as a vehicle for stories that are often hidden, and needs to be invoked in order to make themselves present. By bathing the portraits of her ancestors in water, it intends to bring them back to their places of origin, where everything begins and ends in constant cycles of renewal and transmutation.
• Image credit: State of Fashion 2024 by Hanayrá Negreiros. Photos by Alile Dara Onawale
Angela Brito
Cristal [Crystal] Dress
In the Estrangeira [Foreign] collection, Angela Brito sought to create a universe where bodies move freely across the Earth, exercising their intrinsic right to displacement and mobility, essential to their humanity. However, this right is often confronted by the limitations and boundaries imposed by processes of globalisation, which include projects allowing the free circulation of goods, capital, and ideas, while simultaneously assuming the disposability of nature, including human life, creating a scenario of ecological catastrophe for the present and future of the planet. Therefore, the designer creates designs inspired by traditional patterns and fabrics found in nomadic societies in African and Asian continents, shaping freedom of movement. An example is the Cristal [Crystal] dress, which incorporates the panu di tera, a traditional Cape Verdean fabric, in an elegant white tone, with details embroidered in bead threads, evoking the fluidity of waters. On the sides, hand-made pleats in silk, an ancient fabric, merge tradition with the forefront of contemporary fashion.
• Panu di tera, silk, polyester, and viscose
• Panu di tera woven on a traditional loom in Cape Verde by craftsman Santinho and embroidered in Rio de Janeiro by artisan Gina. Estrangeira [Foreign] Collection. 2023.
• Image credit: State of Fashion 2024 by Hanayrá
Negreiros. Photos by Alile Dara Onawale
Bordadeiras do Curtume
Mulher grávida e os pés de algodão [Pregnant Woman and Cotton Feet]
Bordadeiras do Curtume is a group that gathers 25 women residing in the Jequitinhonha Valley, Minas Gerais, Brazil, and engages in an artistic endeavor that spans the entire cotton cycle. The embroideries are crafted from original illustrations signed by Diogo Guimarães, the son of embroiderer Maria do Carmo Guimarães. Laden with symbolism, the four embroideries chosen for the exhibition were handmade and narrate the joys and challenges of life in the interior of Minas Gerais, showcasing the profound relationship that the women of this community maintain with nature, agriculture, and the art of embroidery.
• Raw American fabric, thread, and copper. Embroidered in satin stitch and fabric painted with earth paint, produced by the artisans themselves. O Que Sei, O Que Sou [What I Know, What I Am] Collection. 2024
• Image credit: State of Fashion 2024 by Hanayrá Negreiros. Photos by Alile Dara Onawale
Dayana Molina & Sallisa Rosa
Movendo as águas [Moving the Waters]
The artists Dayana Molina (and the team from her Nalimo studio) and Sallisa Rosa bring layers of fabrics as transpositions and overlays with fluidity and transparency. They seek the idea of crossings of gender concepts, social disposition, diversity, and other elements. These layers reveal themselves as curtains that emerge from this wheel that resembles a ‘skirt’. But it is also a world, like the bottom of the sea and the river. Water is fluidity; it is home, it is a path, it is light and dark, it is a mystery. Nature has no gender. Just like this work, which by stitching one thing to another like a dialogue, is there proposing a new perspective. There is
a provocation between the worlds that connect between matter and spirit, which merge in Indigenous cosmology as enchanted beings (ancestral spirits) and living humans. Everything is part of nature, belonging to the same world with similar senses and purposes. Water and earth bind the clay elements together. Rivers and seas in motion, they meet and part ways. They are opposites and complements. Just like tradition and contemporary languages. They merge between past, present, and future, stitching together a new present.
• Various fabrics with natural, organic fibers, embroideries, textile interventions, clay beads, threads, fringes, paintings, and other applications such as sublimation and printing. Raw materials applied manually by four Indigenous women. Commissioned artwork. 2024.
• Image credit: State of Fashion 2024 by Hanayrá Negreiros. Photos by Alile Dara Onawale
Goya Lopes
Goya Lopes’ artwork features five cotton fabrics printed using the screen printing method, with themes related to AfroBrazilian cosmologies linked to the African deity of the sea, Iemanjá, and the connections between the African religious universe and Brazil and its waters. Elements of the vast marine environment are depicted, including fish, sea urchins, starfish, shrimp, seahorses, shells, and algae. Iemanjá, known to Brazilians as “the queen of the sea,” is revered with gifts such as perfumes, flowers, jewellery, fruits, and rituals, being considered the mother of the orixás and protector of her devotees. Mermaids, fish, and boats with flowers represent the customs of Afro-Brazilian religious communities in offering gifts to Iemanjá.
Fundo do Mar [Seabed], Cotton, Screen Printing, [Mar] Sea Collection, 2013
• Iemanjá, Cotton, Screen Printing, Do Mar para Iemanjá [From the Sea to Iemanjá] Collection, 2015
• Oferendas [Offerings], Cotton, Screen Printing, Do Mar para Iemanjá [From the Sea to Iemanjá] Collection, 2015
• Símbolos [Symbols], Cotton, Screen Printing, Do Mar para Iemanjá [From the Sea to Iemanjá] Collection, 2015
• Ondas com búzios [Waves with seashells], Cotton, Screen Printing, Ondas [Waves] Collection, 2019
Image credit: State of Fashion 2024 by Hanayrá Negreiros. Photos by Alile Dara Onawale
Isa Silva
Acredite no seu axé [Believe in Your Axé] Jacket
The work of artist and fashion designer Isa Silva is a jacket made of cotton, with embroidered applications of natural seashells. On the back of the jacket, you’ll find the phrase “Believe in your axé,” which is Isa Silva’s motto. The piece is inspired by Afro-Brazilian religious aesthetics, where axé (a vital energy in African and Afro-diasporic cosmologies) represents a connection among people from the same Candomblé community, an Afro-Brazilian religion. By conveying these words, the artwork serves as a flag in support of the struggle of Black religious communities in Brazil, a country whose founding history is marked by processes of violence against Brazilian Indigenous and Black diasporic communities.
• Cotton and Seashells. Sewing. Acredite no seu axé [Believe in Your Axé] Collection. 2015.
• Image credit: State of Fashion 2024 by Hanayrá Negreiros. Photos by Alile Dara Onawale
Nangayanga
Axó de Kaya Ensemble
The artwork Axó de Kaya Ensemble, crafted by artist and seamstress Nangayanga, embodies the collective and centuriesold knowledge of black communities practicing Candomblé, one of the many Afro-Brazilian religions of African origin. In Bantu-origin communities in Brazil, Kaya is the African deity of the seas and salty waters, revered as a great mother, protector, and nurturer. The word axó, of Yoruba origin, in Afro-diasporic Brazilian contexts, can refer to clothing, attire, or fabric. Axó de Kaya represents the attire of this deity, typically adorned with hues of white, transparent, light blue, and pearlescent, evoking the shades of the waters. The piece also incorporates elements of silver metal and translucent beads, graciously provided by the leader of the Redandá community, Tata Mona Guiamazy, of which Nangayanga is a part, with one of her roles being to sew the liturgical garments.
• Richelieu, cotton, synthetic organza, tulle with rhinestones, polyester, and polyamide. Sewing. Commissioned artwork. 2024
• Image credit: State of Fashion 2024 by Hanayrá Negreiros. Photos by Alile Dara Onawale
Homesite:
Arnhem
Photo by Eva Broekema
Photo by Eva Broekema
Dismantling Tradition
Tradition is a deceptively complex term. Although we associate tradition with the past, fashion and the making of clothing are practices defined by constant change and transformation. Fashion designers 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 overwritten by imperial power; in recent decades, globalisation has eroded our world’s diversity of dress. Designers today are acknowledging this violence and reclaiming their heritage.
Photo by Eva Broekema
Christopher Raxxy
Christopher Raxxy was founded in 2020 by William Shen and Fang Jiaping. Based in Shanghai and Milan, the brand’s unique approach to quilting draws upon traditional Chinese bamboo weaving techniques, and is informed by Shen’s passion for mathematics. The Vast Land collection takes inspiration from a twelfth century Song Dynasty painting by Wang Ximeng, a masterpiece of Chinese art. The painting’s misty rivers and undulating mountains are translated into sculptural clothing that seeks to capture the harmony of nature on the body.
• Christopher Raxxy, Looks from Vol. 3 The Vast Land collection, 2022, nylon and down, courtesy of the designer
• Christopher Raxxy looks, part of the State of Fashion Biennale 2024 | Ties that Bind. Photo by Eva Broekema
Sun Lee
Since the 1960s, traditional textile production in South Korea has been eroded by industrialisation, so the revival of craft is central to Sun Lee’s practice. The garments shown here are made of hanji paper, a material renowned for its durability and often used for traditional home interiors across Asia. Cut, torn and rolled by hand, the paper becomes the basis for Lee’s layerable, modular garments whose ephemeral and disposable nature reflects her commitment to sustainability.
Consumption of Heritage, 2019,
This
hanji paper
video documents the ways in which Sun Lee creates her intricate paper garments. The text written on the paper is based on the Hunminjeongeum, a foundational document published in 1443, which first introduced the Hangul alphabet for writing the Korean language.
Mohammed El Marnissi
El Marnissi’s collection is inspired by love. A Middle Eastern fable tells of Damar and Cuz, who hail from two tribes locked in conflict but fall in love. Cuz’s untimely death moves Damar to unite their people and live at peace in a city that bears their names: Damascus.
Blending the contemporary and midcentury, El Marnissi combines innovative silhouettes with 1960s and ‘70s colour and print. His details have their roots in ancient Moroccan techniques: the raffia jacket is inspired by Moroccan carpet weaving, while the hand-beaded pants are dyed with henna.
• Mohammed El Marnissi’s collection, part of the State of Fashion Biennale 2024 | Ties that Bind.
Photo by Eva Broekema
• Looks from The Orient and All its Mystery collection, 2021, textile, embroidery, mixed media, courtesy of the designer
Kallol Datta
Kallol Datta’s textile objects are made of deconstructed fabric from India and Japan. The garments — including vintage sarees and kimonos, gathered via online clothing drives — have all been unstitched and radically reformed. Although Datta trained as a clothes maker, these are uninhabitable objects. There are no hemlines or neck holes as entry points to the body. They resist the logic of clothing, and instead embody the meeting of diverse textiles, carrying the memories of their former owners.
The garments used in these works date from the 1940s to the 1980s, a period of major social and political change in both Japan and India. Datta’s research into clothing focuses on the ways in which it has been used in both places as a tool of control over minority and marginalised communities. His abstract fabric sculptures are about challenging this traditional relationship between clothing and the body.
• Object 35, from Vol. 3, Issue 2, reconstructed sarees, 2023, cotton, silk, and polyester, courtesy of the artist and Experimenter Gallery, Kolkata
Object 32, from Vol. 3, Issue 2, reconstructed kimonos and haoris, 2023, silk, cotton, viscose, polyester and nylon, courtesy of the artist and Experimenter Gallery, Kolkata
• Object 25, from Vol. 3, Issue 2, reconstructed haoris and kimonos, 2023, silk, viscose, cotton and polyester, courtesy of the artist and Experimenter Gallery, Kolkata
Object 30a, from Vol. 3, Issue 2, reconstructed phaneks, 2023, silk, cotton, and polyester, courtesy of the artist and Experimenter Gallery, Kolkata
• Kallol Datta, part of the State of Fashion Biennale 2024 | Ties that Bind.
Photo by Eva Broekema
Lukhanyo Mdingi
Burkina Faso’s national fabric is called Faso Danfani. The textile is a source of great pride for Burkinabé people and holds protected status since 2019. Mdingi works with CABES Textile Community, a social enterprise in Burkina Faso, and Philani, an NGO in South Africa, to create textiles that reflect the artisanal craft. Their bespoke fabrics are handwoven in organic cotton and metal yarn, with minimal waste, using dyes with low environmental impact.
At the heart of Mdingi’s work is a commitment to social impact: training and support for the weavers he collaborates with, alongside proper compensation — regulated by the Ethical Fashion Initiative. The project has created over 200,000 metres of fabric since 2020.
• Burkina SS2023, wool, cotton, acrylic, lurex, among others
• Designs by Lukhanyo Mdingi, part of the State of Fashion Biennale 2024 | Ties that Bind. Photo by Eva Broekema
NKWO
NKWO is a Nigeria-based brand giving new life to textile waste through West African craftsmanship. An experimental studio session triggered their invention of a new fabric – Dakala Cloth – made of strips of second-hand denim stitched together. Dakala Cloth (and its braided and woven variations) is used in different ways across their collections, alongside other local natural materials such as cotton, raffia and sisal. The designers are constantly experimenting and evolving the material with each season. From sorting to stitching, braiding or weaving, a single panel of Dakala takes more than 6 hours to make.
NKWO works with local Nigerian artisans in the production of their garments. Their social enterprise model supports vulnerable women by teaching them skills in upcycling and fabric manipulation, breaking cycles of dependency on the industry of charitable ‘aid’ in Africa. For NKWO, waste is a valuable commodity that can support communities and preserve tradition.
• SPEAK LOVE collection, 2016, upcycled denim, plastic zipper
The World is Mine Too collection, 2023, cotton yarn, deadstock denim fabric
• Web of Things collection, 2020, Funtua (made in Nigeria) cotton, upcycled mirror tiles, metal covered buttons
• NKWO, State of Fashion Biennale 2024 | Ties that Bind. Photo by Eva Broekema
Nous Étudions
Nous Étudions, created by Romina Cardillo in Argentina, is a genderless, vegan brand with a focus on intricate and innovative textile work. The brand’s name means ‘we study’, a reference to their continuous dedication to material and technique research and consistent questioning of standardised fashion industry systems. Unconventional materials used in these looks include bio latex derived from grape waste and nopal leather created from a cactus native to Mexico. Cardillo has described her process as a ‘constant evolution’ in which she is able to make ‘a fusion between new technologies and ancestral artisanal processes.’
Nous Étudions, Looks from 2023-2024, bio latex and nopal leather, courtesy of the designer
Maison ARTC
These newly-commissioned photographs have been created for State of Fashion 2024 by Marrakech-based design house Maison ARTC, founded by Artsi Ifrach. Their work is characterised by spectacular use of found material, and by a dream-like approach to storytelling through clothing. Ifrach speaks passionately about the potential of design to provoke memory and inspire emotion. This series springs from the values of love and pride for one’s heritage and identity, and emphasises the importance of preserving these for future generations.
• Maison ARTC, REBUILD, commissioned by State of Fashion 2024
Maison ARTC, REBUILD, part of the State of Fashion Biennale 2024 | Ties that Bind. Photo by Eva Broekema
These looks have been created by Marrakech-based design house Maison ARTC, founded by Artsi Ifrach. Their work is characterised by spectacular use of found material, and by a dreamlike approach to story-telling through clothing. Ifrach speaks passionately about the potential of design to provoke memory and inspire emotion. This series springs from the values of love and pride for one’s heritage and identity, and emphasises the importance of preserving these for future generations.
• Maison ARTC, REBUILD, commissioned by State of Fashion 2024
Maison ARTC, REBUILD, part of the State of Fashion Biennale 2024 | Ties that Bind. Photo by Eva Broekema
Karim Adduchi
Karim Adduchi has lived in Amsterdam since 2011, but his collections begin with the rich heritage of Morocco. His work celebrates the textiles, weaving traditions and embroidery techniques practised by Moroccan artisans for generations. From reed-like material used for floormats, to Berber-woven carpets, Adduchi celebrates the complexity of people and challenges narrow definitions of the ‘other’. One look, featuring feathers, is inspired by the 12th century text, The Conference of the Birds, by Farid ud-Din Attar. This epic sufi poem is an allegory of the soul’s search for meaning.
• She knows why the caged bird sings collection, 2015, recycled woven floormat from the Imzouren tribe, Morocco, on loan from Textiel Factorij
• She lives behind the courtyard door collection, 2016, woven cotton and wool textiles, on loan from Textiel Factorij
• She lives behind the courtyard door collection, 2016, woven Iranian cashmere, Chinese woven silk, cotton, wool, copper, on loan from Textiel Factorij
• Karim Adduchi, part of the State of Fashion Biennale 2024 | Ties that Bind. Photo by Eva Broekema
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. Born of community, and worn in public, clothing sings in protest and enables solidarity. 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.
Photo by Eva Broekema
Alia Ali
Alia Ali’s practice deconstructs cultural binaries, breaking down reductive ideas around gender and identity. In this series, an ambiguous figure is shrouded in textile, overwhelmed by repeated patterns of poppies. The flower carries charged associations with death and war — from WWI to recent conflicts in Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Libya — and with the opiates that poppies produce. These histories are intertwined: until recently Afghanistan was the world’s largest grower of poppies, underwriting the world’s trade in heroin. Rendered faceless by fabric, the figure’s identity is subsumed by cloth, which extends onto the very frame of the image. These are images that resist easy categorisation, critiquing the histories and symbols that shape the assumptions we make about other people.
• Stranded in a Sea of Eye Popping Poppies, from the Poppy series, 2023, pigment prints on Canson Photo Rag, framed in Rajasthani hand-printed cotton
Drown in my Eyes of Poppy Fields, from the Poppy series, 2023, pigment prints on Canson Photo Rag, framed in Rajasthani hand-printed cotton
• Alia Ali, part of State of Fashion Biennale 2024 | Ties that Bind. Photo by Eva Broekema
Esna Su
Esna Su’s wearable, sculptural objects are made using traditional techniques of weaving, twining, needlework and crochet, inspired by her Turkish heritage. They engage with the experience of those forced from their homes due to conflict or political unrest, whose world suddenly shrinks to the few possessions they can carry. Su’s works are both vessels, bearing the physical imprint of invisible items within, and extensions of the body. Although they appear empty, they feel laden with memory, embodying the psychological burden of displacement.
• Esna Su, The Burden I, 2020, leather, off-cut leather, cotton thread, glue, courtesy of the artist Esna Su, part of the State of Fashion Biennale 2024 | Ties that Bind. Photo by Eva Broekema
Reena Saini Kallat
Pattern Recognition is based on data from Henley’s Passport Index, which annually ranks the world’s nations on the strength of their ‘passport power’. Countries with abundant visa-free travel options appear larger and rank higher on the chart, while countries with restricted travel appear smaller and lower. Echoing the format of eye tests, the charts visualise the stark inequalities of access and freedom among the world’s nations, particularly between the Global North and the Global South. Each country’s map is woven from electrical wire, as Kallat reflects, too, on the inequalities of access to basic infrastructure.
The chart on the left is based on the 2006 Index, while the one on the right is from 2022. Their comparison reveals major changes to global power dynamics in the intervening 15 years. In 2006, the ‘strongest’ passports belonged to Denmark, the USA and other European nations, but by 2022 these have been replaced by Asian countries like Japan, Singapore and South Korea.
Reena Saini Kallat, State of Fashion Biennale 2024 |
Ties that Bind. Photo by Eva Broekema
Jakkai Siributr
Jakkai Siributr’s work addresses historical and contemporary urgencies in SouthEast Asia. In Thailand, young men are required to enlist in the army if they have not received territorial defence training in high school. This means most army conscripts are from low-income families who could not afford their sons’ higher education. When soldiers are sent to the deep south of Thailand, a site of active conflict, these vulnerable young people know they cannot depend upon government support if something happens to them. According to the artist, ‘the only thing they can rely on is supernatural powers from various talismans’.
In Blind Faith, Siributr embellishes Thai military uniforms with amulets of bullet shells, glass beads and images of Buddha. The typical masculinity of soldiers’ uniforms is tempered by the talismanic, which speaks to the human desire for safety, and the intimate ways we seek this in our clothes.
• Blind Faith I, II, III, 2011/2019, found materials, brass, clay composite, courtesy of the artist and Flowers Gallery, Hong Kong
Jakkai Siributr, part of the State of Fashion Biennale 2024 | Ties that Bind.
by Eva Broekema
Photo
Bárbara SánchezKane
This work features a leather suit on a red plastic chair, of the kind ubiquitous in the streets of Mexico City. The garments, in equally familiar army-green, are made of leather moulded around empty egg cartons. Draped casually over a chair, the work strips military wear of its typical starched utility. As Sánchez-Kane describes, ‘Uniforms serve as potent symbols, ready-made embodiments of heroic masculinity.’ In destabilising the machismo of military tailoring, the artist delves into the complex interplay between power, control, and identity, as expressed through clothing.
• State of Fashion Biennale 2024 | Ties that Bind.
Photo by Eva Broekema
Azra Aksamija
In this installation, Azra Akšamija uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology to envision future traditional fashion. The artist ‘trains’ AI software with images of her own face, alongside references from global costume, generating speculative designs. Presented here as continuously morphing portraits, they blur cultural and temporal boundaries, alluding to the fluidity of identity. The work questions the extent to which the ‘traditional’ is a product of our imagination and a site for projection, and the AI-designed headgear suggests technology may one day influence even our most intimate traditions.
• Azra Akšamija, Hallucinating Traditions, 2024, 5-channel video installation on holographic projectors, courtesy of the artist
• AI installation by Azra Akšamija, part of the State of Fashion Biennale 2024 | Ties that Bind. Photo by Eva Broekema
Farah Fayyad
Farah Fayyad is a Lebanese graphic designer and printmaker based between Beirut and Amsterdam. During popular uprisings in Lebanon in 2019, Fayyad, together with Siwar Kraytem and a group of friends, installed a manual screenprinting press at the heart of the Beirut protests. They invited local designers to send them artworks and slogans inspired by the uprising, and printed these onto the clothing of protestors. Passers-by stopped, removed jackets or shirts or tote bags for printing, and then returned to the street wearing them. In a country where colonial languages of French and English are widely spoken, the project proudly brought Arabic typography into the public and political sphere.
Caption: Farah Fayyad and Tal G, Why are we celebrating?, 2021, video, 5’58.
• Farah Fayyad, State of Fashion Biennale 2024 | Ties that Bind. Photo by Eva Broekema
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 colonialismwhere 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.
Designers from across the Global South 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 labourers and makers in the garment industry and beyond.
Photo by Eva Broekema
TMS.SITE
Having watched her father work on building sites in the 1990s, Tsang Mei Sze was struck by the skilled labour demanded of workers operating in brutal conditions. She noticed that construction workers’ bulky and uncomfortable clothing didn’t protect their bodies, nor facilitate their work. Her TMS.SITE project seeks to design the best workwear possible, and these thoughtful, practical garments are designed in collaboration with construction workers — referred to as Industrial Athletes — who trial and provide feedback on their evolving range of products.
• This jacket, currently in the research and development phase (which can take between 6 and 12 months per garment), is designed to allow workers to insert a small fan to cool down their bodies while working
TMS.SITE 3.0 Industrial Athlete Work Pants, video, 2023, 3’03, courtesy of the designer
TMS.SITE, Hong Kong’s Man of Steel, video, 2023, 8’30, courtesy
• This pair of TMS.SITE’s Ultralight work pants have been worn by Stone, a steel worker in Hong Kong. He tested them between September and November 2023 in hot and humid conditions (temperatures can reach 54°C in summer). Stone gave feedback on the trousers to the designer, commenting on the lightness of the fabric and the functionality of the buttons.
Designer Tsang Mei Sze noticed that every pair of pants Stone tests comes back with fabric torn at the back. It turns out this is because there are no chairs at building sites, so Stone sits on steel stakes for rest, which damages the trousers — a reminder to take into account the conditions of trades beyond their physical labour, when designing workwear.
of the designer
ABOUT A WORKER, Shenzhen - Process, 2019, 1’28, by ABOUT A WORKER.
ABOUT A WORKER
ABOUT A WORKER is a design studio that fosters dialogue around the power relationships between design and manufacture. For this project, the studio was invited to Shenzhen, China, to collaborate with a group of former clothing sweatshop workers. The worker-designers deconstructed and reconstructed their green uniforms, investing the identical, ill-fitting garments with individual style.
The creative process was inspired by the urban landscape and rapid transformation of the city and workers’ village in which they live. The project offered the women agency as makers, inviting them to use their creative skills in cutting, sewing, and pressing for themselves, rather than in the making of cheap fashion.
• ABOUT A WORKER. State of Fashion Biennale 2024 | Ties that Bind. Photo by Eva Broekema
BUZIGAHILL
Countries in the Global North dump millions of tonnes of used clothing in Africa every year, in a process known as waste colonialism. This has a deeply damaging effect on the local environment and textile industry, and on the identities of locals pressured to wear clothing discarded by a distant other. Ugandan brand BUZIGAHILL and designer Bobby Kolade transform secondhand clothing from the Global North by deconstructing and reassembling the material into unique pieces. Kolade’s long-term plan is to revitalise Ugandan production, building small, specialised factories for repurposing used garments and producing hand-woven textiles.
• BUZIGAHILL, Looks from RETURN TO SENDER 07, 2024, mixed materials, sourced from secondhand clothes, courtesy of the designer
BUZIGAHILL. State of Fashion Biennale 2024 | Ties that Bind. Photo by Eva Broekema
On 20 June 2024, Nieuwe Instituut and fashion platform State of Fashion welcomed designer Bobby Kolade from the Ugandan brand BUZIGAHILL for a conversation about his design practice, his brand, and the local ecological and social impact of the fashion industry.
Luna Del Pinal
Luna Del Pinal, founded by Gabriela Luna and Corina Del Pinal, work closely with over 200 Guatemalan artisans in the creation of their hand-made clothing. Their garments are intricately made using traditional methods, such as backstrap loom weaving or crochet, and the brand is devoted to supporting the local community and its textile ancestry.
Luna Del Pinal describes their work as ‘artisanal+’, a term that reflects their prioritisation of safeguarding artisanal skill above commercial gain. The brand practises financial transparency: every season they share a breakdown of expenditure in order to explain their pricing, the costs involved in production, and the wages their stakeholders receive.
• Luna Del Pinal. State of Fashion Biennale 2024 | Ties that Bind. Photo by Eva Broekema
Material Atlas
• link to the website: materialatlas.world
• Material Atlas. State of Fashion Biennale 2024 | Ties that Bind. Photo by Eva Broekema
Material Atlas is an interactive digital tool and ‘living map’ of materials from all over the world. Its first iteration focusses on Sub-Saharan Africa, organised across four primary material categories:
• Native materials are indigenous to the land.
• Local materials are citizens, but are not native to the land.
• Migrant materials are voyagers that are visiting from other lands.
• Cosmic materials are spirits and omnipresent to any land.
Each material’s entry in the atlas — from terracotta, to moss, to high-density polyethylene — combines history, provenance and an author’s personal relationship to the medium. The project seeks to enable designers and researchers to build a deeper, intersectional understanding of material, and to recontextualise the language in which material is typically framed.
• Material Atlas is co-created by Ma-tt-er, founded in 2015 by Seetal Solanki, the British Council’s Architecture, Design and Fashion Department and ten creatives from ten SubSaharan African countries:
Betty Bulongo, Lusaka, Zambia
Isatu Harrison, Freetown, Sierra Leone
Kishan Goochoorum, Quatre-Bornes, Mauritius
Mamy Tall, Dakar, Senegal
Matthew Binary Edwards, Johannesburg, South Africa
Maxwell Mutanda, Harare, Zimbabwe
Naa Obeye, Accra, Ghana
Vanessa Nsona, Lilongwe, Malawi
Wacy Zacarias, Maputo, Mozambique
Yegwa Ukpo, Lagos, Nigeria
Las Manuelas Project
Las Manuelas is a project working with alpaca farmers in the high Andes of southern Peru. The women are master knitters who work with wool from their animals, spun and dyed with local plants. The project enables the community to collaborate with global partners via an easy-to-use digital co-design tool, developed over a period of 5 years. For this particular large-scale piece, fashion and textile students in Spain and Russia provided visual references which the Manuelas interpreted into knitted panels. These were then sewn together, resulting in a spontaneous composition without any single author.
Designers
Maria Mamaj, Adoración Beltran Velasquez, Jacobo Cobian Sanchez, Sofia Makeeva, Daria Denzel, Andrea Carrera Gonzalez, Polina Bychkova, Javier Lasarte, Sofia Yurchenko, Naia Escribano
• Las Manuelas, Design By Trust, 2022, alpaca wool, made in collaboration with Stroganov Art Academy, Russia, and Istituto Europeo di Design, Spain, courtesy of Las Manuelas
• Las Manuelas. State of Fashion Biennale 2024 | Ties that Bind. Photo by Eva Broekema
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 here 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.
Photo by Eva Broekema
Melati Suryodarmo
Melati Suryodarmo is an Indonesian artist whose practice is closely connected to performance and dance. Her father, Suprapto Suryodarmo, was a renowned dance artist and choreographer. Memory of Water shows Melati wearing a hooded outfit made from paper, exploring the ‘soul’ of Suprapto’s derelict house, not long after his death. For Melati, ‘the body becomes a home which functions as a container of memories, a living organism [...] I intend to touch the fluid border between the body and its environment’.
• Memory of Water, 2022, 30’
• Video by Melati Suryodarmo, State of Fashion Biennale 2024 | Ties that Bind. Photo by Eva Broekema
Filwa Nazer
Filwa Nazer’s textile sculpture explores the body’s relationship to space. Made as Nazer was preparing to move home to Saudi Arabia from the UK, the inner layers of embroidered muslin cotton are cut according to the floorplan of her home in London. Flat architectural drawings, echoing the marks of garment patterncutting, take on three-dimensional form as an ambiguous suspended skirt. Nazer’s use of green polyethylene references the material wrapped around buildings under construction in Jeddah. This moment of transition in the artist’s life coincided with rapid social change occurring in Saudi society - a period characterised by both anticipation and anxiety.
The Skin I Live In, 2019, green polyethylene and muslin cotton, from the collection of Basma Al Suleiman, in loving memory of Mohammed Juffali
Mounira Al Solh
In this work, Al Solh uses the familiar, mass-produced textiles that are common as bedcovers and blankets in family homes in Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine. The artist has pierced their surface with small holes, and hemmed them with thread. This recalls her childhood memories of being frightened and unable to sleep during the Lebanese Civil War. Her mother would allow her to make small tears in her pyjamas and sew them shut as a form of meditative distraction.
Suspended in the gallery like tents, the hole-studded surface of these blankets might be read as bullet-pocked ceilings or skies full of stars. Accompanied by children singing lullabies and the sound of sewing and knitting, the work speaks to the experience of refugees, and the modest comfort found in needle and thread.
Mounira Al Solh, State of Fashion Biennale 2024 | Ties that Bind. Photo by Eva Broekema
Hangama Amiri
During her childhood, Amiri would wander through Kabul’s market with her female relatives. After the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001, Afghanistan witnessed significant social and cultural change, and women became more visible in the commercial realm. This goldsmith’s shop is part of a series foregrounding womendominated spaces, from jewellery stores and beauty salons to fashion boutiques. Using textiles sourced at A.K. Fabric Store in New York, which has been owned by its Afghan-American shopkeeper for over 30 years, Amiri weaves her childhood memories with the material of her community in diaspora in the USA. The piece is a layered portrait of spaces important to the artist.
• Hangama Amiri, Haji Saleh Zadah, Goldsmith, 2020, cotton, chiffon, muslin, silk, velvet, table cloth, linen, wallpaper inkjet prints on paper, iridescent paper, marker, polyester, beads, plastic, acrylic paint, suede, and found fabrics, courtesy of the artist and T293 Gallery
Azra Aksamija
Azra Akšamija’s Nomadic Mosque posits clothing as a form of portable architecture. Inspired by Prophet Mohammed’s belief that for him and his followers ‘the whole world is a mosque’, this garment unfolds to transform any secular space into one for prayer. The work counters the marginalisation and racism that Muslim communities so frequently experience in the Global North, and challenges reductive portrayals of Islam and its practice. The suit is a sanctuary for its wearer, one that adapts to meet their spiritual needs.
Biennale, State of Fashion has invited Fashion + Design Festival Arnhem (FDFA) to organise an Open Call for Arnhem-based makers.
5 Arnhem-related makers
Hankyul Jeong together with HongKai Li and Jiwoo Lee, Collectief Raven, Batuhan Demir together with Ülkühan Akgül, Sophie Roumans and Bas Kosters will reflected on the theme of this Biennale with new work. For this part, an exhibition was set up in Rozet during the Biennale 2024.
Open Call
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. The selection committee, consisting of Mode Partners 025, ArtEZ, Rijn IJssel, Rozet and the curators and organisation of State of Fashion 2024 and FDFA, has been considering the 24 applications over the past few weeks.
• All interviews by Nicole Beaujean | N.B tekst & advies
Hankyul Joeng, HongKai Li en Jiwoo Lee
Food Immigration
Hankyul Jeong is known for her experiments with food combined with interactive, audience-engaging installations. She enlisted her ArtEZ colleagues HongKai Li and Jiwoo Lee for this project. The three artists are exploring the use of food in fashion: “Just like with food, you can express your personality through clothing. Both are culturally and individually determined. The diversity in food and fashion culture is central to our project.”
Visitors can participate in putting together different panels into a look to their preference. So the looks have endless possibilities by replacing the panels. Patterns of woven images of food leather are applied to panels and show all the traces of ‘food immigration’ that have influenced today’s society.
Melting Pot of Flavors and Dishes
“Through colonisation, many different foods and spices have been spread worldwide: potatoes, spices, as well
as tomatoes, corn, and peppers. For example, kimchi is truly an iconic dish from Korea. If our ancestors hadn’t been colonised by Japan, we would never have come into contact with peppers. And without peppers, there would be no kimchi. Food immigration has created a melting pot of flavours and dishes.”
Mannequins
“Using a food dehydrator, we create ‘leather’ from food items. By extracting moisture, a leather-like material is formed. From this ‘food leather,’ we weave a new type of textile. We have printed this onto panels, allowing the audience to style an entirely new clothing look.
In our installation at Rozet, there were mannequins that visitors could dress with the panels. Thus, a new melting pot of garments is created.”
Diversity in Food and Fashion Culture
• Hankyul Jeong (ZuidKorea), Base for Experiment, Art and Research (BEAR) Fine Art, ArtEZ (2023), HongKai Li (China), Fashion Design, ArtEZ (2023), Jiwoo Lee, (Zuid-Korea), textielontwerper/grafisch ontwerper
mannequins with garments made from food leather
• Hankyul Jeong, HongKai Li Jiwoo Lee, State of Fashion 2024 curated by FDFA. Photo Eva Broekema
Collectief Raven
Wearable Stories
“In mythology, ravens are seen as messengers between different worlds. Our eponymous collective works at the intersection of art and the social domain. We aim to convey stories that are rarely heard or acknowledged. Stories from people who have been placed on the sidelines of society, either temporarily or for an extended period.
It is no coincidence that we work with young people from care institutions or young offenders. Their stories are not always visible, especially on the surface, in our society. This can lead to the idea that you don’t need to engage with them. Whereas we believe it is important to do so.”
Wearable Stories by Collective Raven is making coats with young people from care homes that reflect their stories. These coats are also there to be worn. So you literally wear someone’s story. Meaningful Arnhemmers will wear the coats during this special ceremony attended by the people behind Collectief Raven
Outer and Inner
“Our first project is called Wearable Stories. Together with four young people, we have designed jackets that tell their personal stories: The Lena, The Soumaya, The Jelle, and The Infinity. Fashion label Bonne Suits sponsors the base for these jackets. The exterior of the jackets literally shows their own outward appearance; the interior, on the other hand, reflects their inner selves.
The jackets prompt visitors to Rozet to contemplate their own inner and outer selves. At the same time, they introduce the personal stories of young people who would otherwise remain unseen in society through these unique jackets.”
Collectief Raven, State of Fashion 2024 curated by FDFA. Photo Eva Broekema
Batuhan Demir with Ülkühan Akgül
You Think It, Geert Says It
“Our project invited visitors to reflect on the experiences of people who have had to leave their home countries and arrived elsewhere. We have interviewed five individuals from Iraq, Afghanistan, and Yemen. They have shared with us their journey from their home country to the Netherlands and the process of their integration. What was their departure like, their arrival, experiences on the way to the Netherlands? How did they adapt when they arrived here? And how do they experience their new country?”
Encounter
“Even if you are not Islamophobic or xenophobic, you may unconsciously hold racist beliefs or prejudices about immigrants. We invited visitors to Rozet to an encounter between the established and the new Dutch. We wanted to
move away from the stigmatized image that refugees are always hopeless seekers of luck. We spoke to successful entrepreneurs, artists, musicians, you name it.”
Diversity
“We have translated their stories into five designs, which were displayed in Rozet. You saw an arrangement of five figures at a table, each with their own background and clothing style.
At a screen near the installation, you could listen to their stories through headphones, then viewed the clothing and made the connection. Or vice versa, of course. Altogether, it is a cohesive artwork that celebrates diversity and narratives.”
• Batuhan Demir with Ülkühan Akgül, State of Fashion 2024 curated by FDFA. Photo Eva Broekema
• Batuhan Demir (ArtEZ, 2023), multidisciplinary designer
• interactive multimedia installation
Sophie Roumans
Dissolution of Neglect
“My installation illustrated the connection between our lives, the world, and its inhabitants. It emphasised how our choices have consequences for people worldwide. I wanted to show that behind our everyday actions, such as a trip to the supermarket, there are hidden impactful and political consequences.”
Exploitation
“The work revealed the dark side of our consumer society, where in my research, for example, I draw attention to the exploitation in Congo. Here, the pressure we exert as consumers is strongly visible; severe poverty due to low wages and forced labour. The dire situation in this country shows that someone else pays the price for our cheap products.
Connection
“In my interactive installation, a human figure is depicted, clad in clothing that transformed during the exhibition. Visitors were invited to sprinkle water over the work with a spoon. When the materials get wet, they swell up, revealing patterns and causing the fabric to disappear.
If it doesn’t receive water, it dries out. A metaphor for the attention we need to pay to parts of our society that are not always visible.
Dissolution of Neglect invited us to reflect and reminds us that our actions are globally interconnected. It requires care and attention to strengthen the fabrics of justice and humanity globally.”
• Sophie Roumans, State of Fashion 2024 curated by FDFA. Photo Eva BroekemaHKU Fashion Design (2017)
• ROC RijnIJssel Maatkleding (2012)
• designer and owner of Roumans (since 2018)
interactive installation
Bas Kosters
We are all Mothers
“In 2015, my father passed away after a brief illness. Right after that, I made a colourful tapestry from his clothing. I wanted to capture his life in textile. While working on it, I realised that an artwork about someone is about much more than just that one person. It taught me a lot, not only about my bond with him but also about what it means to be human and how one can develop as a person. The process of making the tapestry brought me closer to my father.”
Family bond
“Barely a year after my father’s death, my mother also passed away after a long illness. For State of Fashion curated by FDFA 2024, I created a tapestry that depicts the tender, sensitive, and ambivalent relationship with her. And how textile can help keep a bond alive.
In the tapestry, I incorporated the quilt my mother made for me a long time ago. That quilt serves as the foundation for a textile artwork. I want to cover it with a new layer of patchwork made from personal fabrics.
My mother was a role model for me; I was truly a mama’s boy. It turned out to be much more complicated to honour her with a wall hanging than it was for my father back then.”
Tribute
“It is a tribute to my mother and to motherhood, but it goes beyond that. The tapestry is also about care, connection, upbringing, family ties. In that sense, anyone can be a mother.”
Ode to motherhood, caregiving, and family ties
• Fashion Institute Arnhem (2003), artist and designer
patchwork wall hanging
• Bas Kosters, State of Fashion 2024 curated by FDFA. Photo by Eva Broekema
Bureau Ruimtekoers
Bureau Ruimtekoers is an Arnhembased platform for makers, artists and designers working on social issues. Using a participatory approach, they bring residents and policymakers together on issues in the living environment from a common goal and equality. State of Fashion has been working structurally with Bureau Ruimtekoers since 2022 on our public and maker participations. For the 2024 Biennale, the following question is central: How do we involve wider communities in Arnhem in our Biennale programme, what was needed for this and, above all, how do we create an accessible public programme that
will enable us to create the intended impact? In addition, Ruimtekoers has once again been commissioned to develop the educational programme (primary and secondary schools), through a series of workshops and residencies by both Dutch and International social designers and community makers, to connect around Arnhem’s communities. Ruimtekoers has developed three Ateliers in which a local intercultural community in Arnhem collaborates with a maker to conceive, make and present a work for the Biennale. The three Ateliers stand as a space for meeting, exchange and connection.
• Photo by Eva Broekema
Atelier Teddy
In five inspiring sessions with students of the Thomas a Kempis College in Arnhem, fashion designer Ruben Jurriën curated a mini-collection influenced by cuddly stuffed animals. With Ruben’s own stuffed rabbit Toetie as a sidekick, the students became acquainted with block print, embroidery and patchwork techniques, as well as each other. In the safe environment of Atelier Teddy, they imagined, created and talked together to investigate the meaning of stuffed animals and expressed their thoughts and emotions in textile.
The resulting mini-collection was presented and activated for the first time with a final screen print by then State Secretary for Culture, Fleur Gräper-van Koolwijk, during the official opening of the Biennale on May 16, 2024. The stamp
made by the state secretary was inspired by her own stuffed toy from her childhood. The students involved wore their selfmade garments in a festive parade through the audience during the opening. During the public opening, which took place the next day, there was a second festive parade. This time the students walked in their outfits from the Rembrandt Theater through downtown shopping streets to another Biennale venue, Rozet. Along the way, the students handed out stuffed animals to the public and held flags with slogans on them such as “De toekomst is lief” (The future is sweet) and “wij durven zacht te zijn” (We dare to be soft). Afterwards, the garments and flags were presented at the Rembrandt Theater for the rest of the Biennale period.
Atelier Home
Fashion designer Zyanya Keizer and the participants of City at Home have created three objects made of reused materials, beads and paint. For six weeks over a period of three months, they worked on three extremely diverse items that vividly portray the various makers’ personalities. City at Home is a meeting place in the neighbourhood of Malburgen in Arnhem that serves as a home- awayfrom-home for women who feel isolated in Dutch society. In a low-threshold way, there was learned what it is like as a migrant to make space for your own cultural origins in a new context. With no preconceived idea of materials and working methods, Zyanya Keizer joined the women and explored which way of working best suited the women. By working on the same garment in a safe environment, Atelier Home created a
close-knit intimacy, with fashion acting as a common language.
The three created garments were exhibited at the main venue Rembrandt for the duration of the Biennale. On Saturday, June 15, we organised an evening in the theme of Atelier Home, where the involved makers who participated in the project with Zyanya Keizer and other interested parties gathered in Rembrandt, to share their experiences with each other, view the mini documentary and the sketches that Petra Lunenburg had made during one of Zyanya and the women’s meetings. There was also the opportunity to stitch together again and to interact with each other, even if you didn’t speak each other’s language.
• Evening programme organised by City at Home, during the State of Fashion 2024 Biennale | Ties that Bind. Photo by Samira Souhoka
Atelier Batik
In Atelier Batik, Romée Mulder and Myrthe Groot from fashion label GUAVE collaborated with designers from Arnhem with Indian, Indonesian or Moluccan backgrounds to work with batik, a traditional Javanese craft that uses hot wax and dye to print fabrics with detailed patterns and motifs. In the South of Arnhem, a place where many Arnhemmers with an Indian, Indonesian or Moluccan background live, the designers and the residents met several times in the run-up to the Biennial during the designers’ residency in Sama Sama, the neighborhood center where a large part of this community meets weekly. They worked together on canvases made from leftover materials, batiked their own fabrics, shared photos and stories,
and brought garments, each with its own story. During the making process they used this to deepen memories, share stories and experiences, the important meaning and richness of different batik techniques of the islands involved, the different families and the role batik has played and continues to play in their lives. The jointly created canvases were subsequently exhibited at Rembrandt during the Biennale. On Saturday, May 18, a celebration of the residency took place at Rembrandt, named Bumi Batik, to conclude the various days of making and to present the outcomes to a wider audience. The evening was moderated by Lin An Phoa, there was singing by Indi and we reflected on the need to relate to clothing and craft in a different way.
• Evening programme organised by City at Home, during the State of Fashion 2024 Biennale | Ties that Bind. Photo by Samira Souhoka
Petra Lunenburg Illustrations
Fashion illustrator and artist Petra Lunenburg has captured the process of the three Ruimtekoers Ateliers through several sketches. These sketches were exhibited in the cafe of the Rembrandt Theatre during the Biennale.
• Illustrations by Petra Lunenburg made during the State of Fashion Biennale 2024 | Ties that Bind
Crafts Council NL
Crafts Council Netherlands contributes to the development of craft and creative craft culture. They do this both by supporting individual makers and by defining, making visible and promoting the sector. State of Fashion has been working with Crafts Council NL since 2023, including by organising various workshops around crafts and craftsmanship.
Crafts Council Nederland, platform for creative craftsmanship, organises an in-depth public programme as part of State of Fashion 2024.
Crafts Council Nederland is committed to revaluing the creative craft culture in the Netherlands and preserving traditional techniques. The knowledge built up over centuries connects us and is crucial for the future. Crafts symbolise quality, creativity, beauty, sustainability, the human touch, identity, diversity, learning by making, knowledge, wisdom, innovation and independence.
During the State of Fashion Biennale 2024, you could participate in various masterclasses or workshops. For example, you could learn the basics of gold embroidery from Hester Dennissen, Japanese Sashiko from Selina Ben, haute couture bead and sequin embroidery from Marjolein van der Heide, or hand-sew your own jeans using the beautiful linen provided by The Linen Project.
There were also Knits & Notes evenings, featuring crafting, music, and a lecture by Nora Veerman. The programme included a screening of Community Dressing by Theodoor Adriaans, craft sessions with Bas Kosters, and a talk by Fatima Abbadi on the history of clothing and textiles from the Middle East.
For young creators (aged 9–15), we organised free Craftsklas sessions on Wednesday afternoons. Here, they could experiment with fabric scraps, stamp patterns onto textiles, or create their own good luck amulets.
• Craftsklas organised by Crafts Council NL, photo by Samira Souhoka.
Plaatsmaken
Screenprinting activation Farah Fayyad
For State of Fashion 2024, Farah Fayyad’s original screen-printing table was brought back into action. Eight artists and designers from the Biennale’s home and partner locations were commissioned to create new designs for Ties that Bind. At various times, visitors could bring their garments or tote bags to Rozet to have them printed for free with a unique design from State of Fashion 2024. Plaatsmaken also held print sessions at their location on 22 May, 29 May, 8 June, and 12 June. Plaatsmaken activated Farah Fayyad’s screen-printing carousel four times at Rozet and screen-printed the designs four times at their own location in the fashion district.
About Plaatsmaken
For the activation of the screen-printing carousel, we collaborated with Plaatsmaken. Plaatsmaken is located in the fashion district and is a place where artists can work and exhibit. As an art platform, they engage with current issues and question them through their artistic programme.
video by Plaatsmaken
Museum Arnhem
Installation Melati Suryodarmo & performance artist Lisette Ros
Next to the Rembrandt Theatre, the Biennale also included a significant installation at Museum Arnhem – Kleidungsaffe, by Indonesian artist Melati Suryodarmo. Her work – translated as ‘Clothing Monkey’ – was a commentary on our excessive consumption of fast fashion and the universal human desire to belong.
A tree-like structure was adorned with hundreds of donated clothing items from people in Arnhem and the local clothing bank 2Switch.
The work featured an ongoing performance in which performance artist Lisette Ros sat for hours on a low branch, embracing the trunk. Lisette Ros represented the social and economic ladder that many migrants feel they must climb in order to be accepted by society.
‘Kleidungsaffe’ by Melati Suryodarmo in Museum Arnhem, with performance artist Lisette Ros. Part of the State of Fashion Biennale 2024 | Ties that Bind. Photo by Eva Broekema
Symposium with ArtEZ
The international fashion symposium stems from our multi-year strategic partnership with ArtEZ, which started in 2018. The symposium always targets designers, scientists, fashion and textile researchers, journalists, fashion entrepreneurs and students. With the symposia, we deepen themes that play a role both in the biennials and in ArtEZ’s research agenda. These include solidary (fashion) education, new solidary community-based economies and more solidary practices of clothes making and wearing. We bring together opinion leaders, scientists, designers and the business community digitally and physically, to exchange ideas and strategies for the future. The programme includes keynotes from science, industry and design, as well as presentations by young researchers and students selected from an international Open Call around the theme of State of Fashion. Alongside ArtEZ, this time we collaborated for the first time with NewTexEco, an education
consortium established in late 2023 in which ArtEZ, HvA/AMFI and Saxion are the catalysts.
On 21 May 2024, the Ties that Bind symposium took place at the Rembrandt Theatre. A dynamic event that addressed various themes related to the State of Fashion Biennale 2024 | Ties that Bind.
The day-long programme was a multi-facetted one with contributions from different angles, where NewTexEco’s research focus such as Shame & Sustainability and Everyday Dressing Practices, designing new (value) systems and perspectives from the Global South, perfectly matched the theme of Ties that Bind.
The programme was introduced by co-curators/ interlocutors Kallol Datta and Sunny Dolat through an inspiring talk, after which lecturer Tanveer Ahmed gave a critical intervention to the audience. ArtEZ’s MA participants Critical Fashion Practices
Symposium with ArtEZ, photo by Koen Kievits
had developed a programme component in which they had designed an alternative exhibition guide through which visitors were challenged to think about the themes within the exhibition through a set of questions. In several groups, visitors to the symposium were taken on a guided tour and thus had the opportunity to see the exhibition. The afternoon consisted of several parallel sessions, including the Textile Surgery, a collaboration with Engage4Bio, in which various garments were ‘dissected’ by different experts from different perspectives. These included looking at the origin of the material, in which cultural context was that garment worn and what could be said about it from a gender perspective? The day ended with a joint networking reception from ArtEZ, NewTexEco, Engage4Bio and State of Fashion.
The full programme was as followed:
09:30: Walk-in and registration
10:00: Welcome by Iris Ruisch (director State of Fashion) and Daniëlle Bruggeman (lector ArtEZ)
BLOCK 1: 10:15 - 11:30
Introduction to the exhibition Ties that Bind by State of Fashion curators Louise Bennetts and Rachel Dedman
Introduction to the programs in the sister sites by State of Fashion interlocutors Sunny Dolat (Nairobi, Kenya) and Kallol Datta (Bengaluru, India)
Provocation by Tanveer Ahmed (design researcher and educator)
Critical contribution by Generation 33 of the MA Critical Fashion Practices, ArtEZ
Panel discussion with Sunny Dolat, Kallol Datta and Tanveer Ahmed (moderated by Chet Bugter, head MA CFP ArtEZ)
Introduction to the collection of Ornament Dresses by Bachelor students Fashion Design by Ratna Ho
Vimeo Link: https://vimeo.com/1010522976
BLOCK 2: 12:00 - 13:00
Tours of the exhibition with a handout developed by MA participants Critical Fashion Practices, ArtEZ
In parallel, the workshop Fabric of Shelter will take place by Alexis Mersmann, MA participant Critical Fashion Practices, ArtEZ
BLOCK 3: 14:00 - 15:00
Plenary session Shame & Sustainability with speakers Aurélie Van de Peer, Marieke Eyskoot and Sara Dubbeldam (moderated by Bregje Lampe)
Vimeo Link: https://vimeo.com/1015226371
BLOCK 4: 15:15 – 16:00
Parallel session 1: Textile Surgery with Tjeerd Veenhoven (ArtEZ/ Engage4Bio), Jeroen van den Eijnde (ArtEZ/ NewTexEco), Paulien Harmsen (WUR), Rosalie Sloof (Nederlands Openluchtmuseum), Tjerre Lucas Bijker (artistic researcher), José Teunissen (AMFI/ NewTexEco) and Kallol Datta
Vimeo Link: https://vimeo.com/953469105
Parallel session 2: Everyday Dressing Practices –different (Global South) understandings with Tommy Tse (UvA) and Fairuzah Atchulo (UvA) (moderated by Sunny Dolat)
Vimeo Link: https://vimeo.com/1016986500
BLOCK 5: 16:15 – 17:00
Plenary session Designing New Systems with speakers Kim van der Weerd (ex-garment factory manager, sustainable fashion critic) Borre Akkersdijk (BYBORRE) and Alvanon
Vimeo Link: https://vimeo.com/1040379211
17:00: Closing words and (network) drinks
18:30: End of programme
Whataboutery
During five (online) Whatabouteries, the themes of the exhibition Ties that Bind were explored in depth.
Watch the online recordings of:
Whataboutery 01: Political Bodies, Whataboutery 02: Dismantling Tradition, and Whataboutery 05: Designing Integrity.
Introduction by director State of Fashion Iris Ruisch
Introduction by Rachel Dedman and Louise Bennetts
Interlocutor Interviews by Renee van der Hoek
Artists texts Tradition(al) by Sunny Dolat & the artists Artists texts Através das águas costuramos outras histórias brasileiras by Hanayrá Negreiros
All theme texts & artists texts State of Fashion Biennale 2024 | Ties that Bind by Rachel Dedman and Louise Bennetts
Introductions on Atelier Teddy, Atelier Home & Atelier Batik by Ruimtekoers
Digital Recap design by Farah Fayyad & Tal G.
No part of this publication may be used or reproduced in any other form or manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Every reasonable attempt has been made to identify owners of copyright. Errors or omissions will be corrected in subsequent editions.
Guusje Heesakkers, communication & project manager
Fashion + Design Festival Arnhem (FDFA)
Riëlle Schoeman, algemeen directeur FDFA
Sebastiaan Kramer, creatief directeur FDFA
Maarten Jeukens, communicatie FDFA
Esra Schimmel, office manager & projectmanager
SYMPOSIUM
Daniëlle Bruggeman, Professor of Fashion | Lector Mode ArtEZ
Matthijs Boelee, Head of Fashion Design BA
Chet Bugter, Head of Programme MA Critical Fashion Practices
ArtEZ
Ratna Ho, textile tutor
Jeroen van den Eijnde, Programme Manager NewTexEco
Research Community
Elise van der Laan, Associate lector, Programmateam NewTexEco
Tjeerd Veenhoven, Researcher at Professorship Tactical Design
ArtEZ
JP Scheen, producer symposium
Catelijne de Muijnck, coördinator symposium
GRAFISCH ONTWERP / GRAPHIC DESIGN
Farah Fayyad & Tal G.
TENTOONSTELLINGSONTWERP / EXHIBITION DESIGN
MAISON the FAUX
TENTOONSTELLINGSBOUW / EXHIBITION CONSTRUCTION
Collectief Soepel
LOCATIES / LOCATIONS
Rembrandt Theater
Rozet: Taal, kunst en erfgoed in Arnhem
Museum Arnhem
Plaatsmaken
HOSPITALITY PARTNER
Hotel Haarhuis
SPONSORING MATERIAAL TENTOONSTELLING
Pyrasied
TRANSPORT & Advies
InXpress Arnhem
LICHTONTWERP EN TECHNIEK / LIGHTING DESIGN AND INSTALLATION
Carl Kohl Theatertechniek
TRANSLATIONS
Roos van de Wardt
Robert Smith
DRUKWERK / PRINTING SOLUTIONS
Drukkerij de Bij
House of U
Promosign
Dogan Print B.V.
Probo
CATERING SUPPORT
Bij Ann, Anthony@WORK, Rembrandt / Luxor Live
RAAD VAN TOEZICHT / SUPERVISORY BOARD STATE OF FASHION
José Teunissen (voorzitter)
Marco Grob
Renate Eringa Wensing
Machteld Roethof
Leoni Huisman
CREATIVE ADVISORY COUNCIL
Carla Fernández, Aditi Mayer, Omoyemi Akerele, NOT___Enough Collective, Orsola de Castro, Tamsin Blanchard, Otto von Busch.
Mode Partners 025
State of Fashion is onderdeel van Mode Partners 025, een samenwerking van Museum Arnhem, ArtEZ University of the Arts, Rijn IJssel Creatieve Industrie, State of Fashion en Fashion + Design Festival Arnhem. Mode Partners 025 gelooft in een eerlijker en duurzaam mode- en textiel systeem en speelt een rol van betekenis op de grote duurzaamheidsuitdagingen in de mode- en textielindustrie. Binnen de regio, binnen Nederland en op internationaal niveau. MP025 zoekt effectieve samenwerking, slaat bruggen en geeft de pioniers een podium.
State of Fashion is part of Mode Partners 025, a collaboration of Museum Arnhem, ArtEZ University of the Arts, Rijn IJssel Creative Industry, State of Fashion and Fashion + Design Festival Arnhem. Mode Partners 025 believes in a fairer and sustainable fashion and textile system and plays a significant role on the major sustainability challenges in the fashion and textile industry. Within the region, within the Netherlands and internationally. MP025 seeks effective cooperation, builds bridges and gives pioneers a stage.
Thank you!
State of Fashion 2024 | Ties that Bind wordt mede mogelijk gemaakt door een geweldig team aan vrijwilligers! / State of Fashion 2024 | Ties that Bind is made possible by an amazing team of volunteers!
Adeline Noorderhaven, Alexandra Gaňová, Angela Klunder, Annemie Meesen, Ans Baars, Attis van der Horst, Ban Al Saadi, Batsirai Brenda Chigumira, Berivan Mirsa, Betty Biemans, Catherine Nassy, Clarien van Harten, Dani Sarkis, Dion Luk, Dorien van Haren, Dorijo Haukes, Dorthy Schout, Edmée Bovy, El van Raaij, Esther Wormskamp, Eveline Hellenkate, Fresia Janse, Gerda Jansen, Hala Hadeli, Hans Marcelis, Ineke de Vries, Karin Huibers - van Leusen, Khaled Zeedan, Klaarke Schuiringa, Leonie Tasma, Lianca Van der Merwe, Linda Biesot, Marel Wormskamp, Margreet Molenaar, Mariam Msuri, Marieke den Ouden, Marilena Van der Horst, Nazia Jacob, Nicolette van der Linden, Piet Marcelis, Rabia Zubah, Riny Bergervoet, Robert Koekkoek, Rudolf Jekel, Sairan Khudeda, Samira El Khoury, Senka Bajramovic, Stef De Wit, Suzanne Arntz, Teresa Carvalheira, Thea te Dorsthorst, Theky Goossens, Trijntje Willems, Trudie Duyndam, Vera van Nuenen, Wilma Furstner, Yvonne Rohde, Zakia Issa.
Speciale dank aan Denise Bernts en Jolanda Verstegen.
State of Fashion 2024 | Ties that Bind is made possible in part by the following funds and partners.
