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