Public areas in society are crucial as they provide chances for leisure, relaxation, introspection, and transformation – that's why an installation in such places can be intellectually stimulating and promote knowledge and intellectual growth. This week, for example, two Greek institutions, the National Museum of Contemporary Art Athens (EMΣΤ) and Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC), present a major outdoor installation by the Nairobi-based collective NEST.
Entitled "Return to Sender" and on display at SNFCC's Esplanade, in Kallithea, south of central Athens (26th April – 30th September 2023), the installation was originally commissioned for Documenta 15 in Kassel (2022).
Established in 2012, the NEST Collective has produced film, music, fashion, visual arts and literature works. Although their practice explores African urban, contemporary, and post-colonial experiences as an investigation into their histories and musings regarding potential futures, it frequently acknowledges and responds to significant contemporary concerns, such as the global climate crisis.
The installation consists in a custom-built pavilion constructed from bales of discarded clothing, commonly known as "mitumba" in Swahili. These bales of used clothing, which predominantly end up in landfills across Africa, constitute a significant environmental issue.
In the installation, the compressed and neatly arranged bales create a dystopian wasteland and put the viewers in an uncomfortable position, making them face the physical consequences of our collective uncontrolled consumption.
"This work was proposed to raise awareness of the negative consequences of high-street or fast fashion clothes – bought, worn for a short while, and discarded quickly – and to raise awareness of the issue specifically in Greece," EMΣΤ Artistic Director Katerina Gregos states.
The bales also point at the regulations that mandate the relocation of these materials to the Global South, so that dealing with the discarded textiles becomes the responsibility of less industrialized nations. Studies highlight that up to 40 percent of each bale of second-hand clothing imported in Africa is entirely unusable and subsequently deposited in landfills, thereby compelling those who trade in these garments to incur substantial overhead costs due to the risk of acquiring a useless bale.
"The environmental footprint of the fashion industry is an issue that needs to be talked about more and consumers need to be made aware that cheap clothes constitute not only an environmental problem, but also a political one as the wealthy West continues to dump its waste in the Global South and poorer countries," Gregos highlights.
This specific version of "Return to Sender", created after an invitation of SNFCC to EMΣΤ to submit a proposal for their annual outdoor installation, is composed of textiles and garments gathered from Greece and intended for either recycling or reuse in industry, where they will ultimately end up following the exhibition. Besides, the artwork is also accompanied by a video installation, entitled "Return to Sender – Delivery Detail", which explores the complicated situation of mostly second-hand textile waste in Kenya and Africa, through the viewpoints of different contributors.
The mountain of recycled waste and the video installation offer the public a chance to temporarily experience these challenges, which in Kenya and many other African countries are a permanent reality.
Image credits for this post
"Return to Sender" installation by Nest, photo by and copyright Nikos Karanikolas, courtesy National Museum of Contemporary Art Athens (EMΣΤ) and Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC).