In the previous post we looked at how an art installation may change its purpose and meaning once it is transported to another context. But there are other types of projects, some of them with some fashion connections that may also change their final aim and objective when relaunched or reinvented.
For example in 2019 during the workshop "I Wish I Was My Own Country so I Could Be Home Anywhere" for the "Road of Change" project, 15 young people were invited by Vluchtelingenwerk Vlaanderen Flemish Refugee Action to spend their spring half-term break travelling along the borders of Europe to meet refugees.
During a mini-workshop they made very personal flags together with graphic artist Edouard Schneider. Refugees were asked to name three core values that they consider important in life and to associate them with a colour and shape.
Individual flags were then composed using a combination of these colours. Schneider used the sketches as a starting point for the final designs, which represent universal themes such as love, peace, compassion, family, education and home.
The flags were symbolical: they represented those who cannot be represented and they prompt us to think about the fact that refugees are stuck at borders and forced to live in dire conditions because of their nationality. So the flags question issues of identity and nationality inviting us to consider what would happen if we could choose our own nationality and if we would be free to go wherever we want.
At the end of the workshop the flags were displayed in the entrance hall of S.M.A.K. in Gent, Belgium. But now the flags have found a new life: to contribute to the refugee and migration crisis S.M.A.K. transformed them into postcards (10 for 12€) and textiles that could be used as interior design pieces or as a fashion accessory (25€).
The postcards and flags could be a great idea for a Christmas present (fashion fans, please remember that flags have always been trendy). Proceeds from the sales will go to Médecins Sans Frontières, active on the Greek island of Lesbos (Moria, the EU's largest refugee camp on the island burnt down at the beginning of September, a tragic event that raised tensions between locals and siplaced refugees) among other places. To know more about the products send an email to bookshop@smak.be with what you wish to order.
Comments