Two weeks ago we were in Vienna and visited the MAK (Museum of Applied Arts), a historic and prestigious museum that houses an incredible collection of art, crafts and design spanning more than five centuries.
Inside the museum we found different exhibitions and one of the ones that caught our attention was “Critical Consumption”, which aims to promote conscious consumerism. This exhibition project is part of the MAK’s commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals.
The exhibition talks about microtrends, fashion giants launching dozens of new collections every year, precarious conditions for textile workers, luxury brands destroying unused garments and ecosystems destroyed by mountains of textile waste. Through this exhibition, we are encouraged to question mass consumption in this sector. This entire concept was captured with this exhibition by the artist Tenant of Culture, 2022.
Another one that we think is important to highlight is “Dead White Men’s Clothes” (DWMC), a transmedia art project by artist Jojo Gronostay, who has roots in Ghana. It refers to “Obroni Wa”, the Ghanaian term for second-hand clothing imported en masse from Europe for decades and sold at the Kantamanto market in Accra, where locals assumed that the owners of these high-quality items had died. Gronostay reimports these donated garments, sold as vintage items, back to Europe, modifies them and sells them there, following the rules of the art market, as unique pieces.
The project raises questions about the boundaries between fashion and art, consumption in times of capitalism, globalization and neocolonialism, and reveals the absurdities of global trade routes, as well as the paradoxes regarding the creation of the “value” of a product.
«Thre is no beauty in the finest cloth if it makes hunger and unhappines»
Mahatma Gandhi.
«Everyone can do simple things that make a difference and every little bit does count»
Stella McCartney