SECOND-HAND DRESSES, Found in Hong Kong.

I asked sculptor and friend Fiel dos Santos from Mozambique to join and make the first sculpture of SHE.
And with wire, patience and pieces of old dresses SHE was after two weeks ready to talk.

In May 2010 Yin John and I started a new project together with the aim to tryout some re-designing across the internet. This with a common dress-stock in Hong Kong which had been selected during and since my previous visit there in 2008.
So
with Yin John/619 produktion in Hong Kong and me in London, we had a go on trying out some new logistic and distribution plans. Very soon photos and decisions were taken of them all whereupon our tailor Mrs Cookie executed the suggested changes.
However, with time it all turned slightly more complicated and it was left astray.
Then one year and one hundred dresses later we finally did it.

Voilà!

dreamandawake + 619 produktion (HK) made a collection of dresses together.

Green fashion workshop.

3 months artist-in-residency

at the Lee Shau Kee School of Creativity.

Photo exhibition at DAYDREAM NATION gallery. Photos from the dreamandawake photo archive shot by Lina Scheynius, Jesper Ulvelius, Roberto Rubalcava, Sara Arnald and Sofia Sjögren.
This together with the recycled gun-hanger made by Fiel dos Santos last year in Mozambique.

In their shop dresses from the HUNDRA collection created a little pop-up store where they were tried on
and soon they
walked away.

www.temptemps.com/yinjohn

TREND OF BEAUTY

www.lauraoliviabaker.com

MILLIE

MOZAMBIQUE

In October 2010 I received an email from The Swedish Embassy in Maputo, Mozambique. A month later I arrived there to get a first brief idea of the country and to prepare a revised edition of the exhibition The Life of a Dress.

Background
MOZAMBIQUE – THE COUNTRY:
Almost five centuries as a Portuguese colony, Became independent in 1975. Economic dependence on South Africa, a severe drought, and a long civil war hindered the country’s development. The ruling party formally abandoned Marxism in 1989 and a new constitution provided for multiparty elections and a free market economy. The fighting ended in 1992 after a UN-negotiated peace agreement with rebel forces were made.

Location: South-East Africa.
Size: Slightly less than twice the size of California
Climate: Tropical to sub-tropical
Terrain: Mostly coastal lowlands, uplands in center, high plateaus in northwest, mountains in west.
Natural Resources: Coal, titanium, natural gas, hydropower, tantalum, graphite
Population: 21.6 million
Average Income per person: $900 per year
Life Expectancy: 41 years

Mozambique is a country holding a population with strong recycling skills. Not as a result of a fashion trend but as a result of a need to cover basic living conditions. The Maputo version of the exhibition investigates together with the workshop the possibilities to develop these skills further and regard them as rare and desirable assets. This to empower people and strengthen the society and the country from the inside in a direction which may be
holistic and sustainable.

To Mozambique I brought a selection of photographs as well as some key dresses. These were put up at in the gallery of Núcleo de Arte in order to inspire and tell the story of one, or possibly some (or maybe none!) of the dresses which exist in the world. A variety of Swedish handicraft methods were also presented.

We went a couple of rounds to the local market where a great variety of second-hand dresses could be found. Dresses which for the past 10-50 years had been turned into bags of out-of-fashion goods by people in Europe, USA and Australia, had now been shipped here. Ending up in a country with almost none to zero local textile production.

We purchased a couple of kilos of dresses and washed and dried them out in the sun.

For the invitations and promotion of the exhibition we got new as well as spare paper from one of the few local paper shops.

On my first day in Maputo I saw artworks from local sculptor Fiel dos Santos who is involved in the TAE PROJECT (= an organization which are collecting guns from around the country and transform these into art).
After a visit to their workshop I asked Fiel if he would like to do something to keep the dresses hanging safely.
And off we left to find some wood.

Fiel dos Santos is also one of the creators behind The Tree of Life now standing at the British Museum, London. Below are some photos from there as well as some random photos taken in the garden of the TAE project workshop.

As an evident part of the exhibition a workshop was held. Some days were for already established local fashion designers, other days for students of the National School for Visual Arts. Inbetween visitors were also welcomed to cut into the dresses.

SH

www.philippegerlach.com

TALLIN

Violetta is a mistress of patchwork. Normally she uses capolanas A range of products made by old dresses, by the hands of Violetta and her two employees.

Gracinda is a dollmaking expert. She normally uses new Capolana fabrics but these dolls were made by old dress fabric. Everything made with the hands of Gracinda in Maputo, Mozambique.

I gave Gracinda camera and all photos above are taken by Gracinda and her family.

The exhibition and workshop were held at NÙCLEO DE ARTE with students from Escola Nacional de Artes Visiuais (National School of Visual Arts) and the women organization FEMME. Participating artists were also FIEL DOS SANTOS: Sculptor, JEMMIRO Guide/Translator, JORGE DIAZ: Artist, TOMAS CUMBANA: Photographer.

Along the canal, London.

Stop motion by Benjamin Woodhouse

Maria Sikström/STROM is a knitwear designer who graduated from Central Saint Martins in London in 2010.
She got some cut-off rest-materials from my dresses which she hand-knitted together with some other discarded fabrics. Her time and loops turned the threads into beautiful sculptor-like garments who were later shot by photographer Dusdin Condren (NY).

www.dusdincondren.com

STROM

The dreamandawake + Red Cross – project was the first step of a new collaboration
with the goal to produce clothes locally in Sweden, raise awareness and to turn unsold second-hand garments into gold.
Gold for people in parts of the world who have not so much gold at the moment as well as to use what has already been produced more efficient.

The RESULT was 40 dresses designed and MADE IN SWEDEN, out of recycled clothes and fabrics. Sewn together by skilled Red Cross tailors and 100 % of the money coming in from the sales went straight to the Red Cross organization.

READ THE PRESSRELEASE HERE (swedish) or download the english pressrelease HERE.

Read some more about the Save the Mother´s -campain, Red Cross Organization Sweden.

Or watch some films by clicking here.

www.anakras.com

1-2-3

www.robertorubalcava.com

SING

WINDOW WATCHER

www.anakras.com

SPRING