Irenebrination: Notes on Architecture, Art, Fashion, Fashion Law, Science & Technology

Between Humanistic Capitalism & Digital Technologies: Fashion Moments @ Rome's G20 Summit

The G20 summit closes today in Rome and heads of state and government of the world's 20 largest economies will then reach Glasgow for the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26).

Usually, when there are such events, the attention of the fashion media is reserved to the outfits chosen by the participants or by their partners. Yet this time there was a fashionable moment at the summit, but it didn't revolve around a particular style choice by the heads of state invited or by their partners. This moment of fashion came indeed courtesy of Brunello Cucinelli, also known as the "king of cashmere", invited to speak at the conference by Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi.

On his Instagram page, Cucinelli wrote about his invitation at the Rome G20, "Major topics were discussed, such as the fight against climate change, the pandemic and measures to support global recovery. My contribution concerned in particular Human Sustainability and Humanistic Capitalism, topics that are particularly dear to me, to which I have dedicated and still passionately dedicate my work and my life."

"It was with honour and extraordinary emotion that I addressed those human beings to outline my dream of returning to believe in a new harmonious respect for the planet. In greeting and thanking them, I hope my heart suggested the right words for a request addressed to them, I like to believe, on behalf of the whole of mankind: 'Oh my esteemed and powerful temporary guardians of Creation, you who are responsible for the beauty of the world, please show us the way to life. May Creation protect us and enlighten us towards a new universal Humanism'."

Cucinelli believes indeed in a new kind of capitalism that doesn’t exploit human beings but that gives back to the community. When last year Covid hit Italy hard, he started posting positive messages and optimistic letters on his Instagram page. Then, last summer, he launched a project in support of mankind, consisting in taking garments that remained unsold from his shops, labelling them as "Brunello Cucinelli for Humanity" and donating them, a reasonable alternative to what other companies usually do - destroying unsold stock from previous collections or offering these designs s discounted deals at luxury outlets.

When vaccines became available, Cucinelli established a vaccination hub in Solomeo, the hamlet he restored over the years and the place where his headquarter is also based. The hub guaranteed vaccines for his workers, but was open to locals as well.

Prior to the G20 Summit Cucinelli unveiled a new project, the creation of a Universal Library (with a project by architect Massimo de Vico Fallani), located in a fine 18th century villa with a large park in Solomeo, that will be open to the public and will store books about philosophy, architecture, literature, poetry and craftsmanship.

Defined by Cucinelli himself as "a fascinating new initiative for humanity" the project is inspired by Emperor Hadrian's words, "Books show the way to life, and founding libraries is like building public granaries."

But if Cucinelli looks at humanity and crafts, at the G20 there was also a link between fashion and technology through the Sustainable Markets Initiative (established last year by HRH The Prince of Wales at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland) Fashion Taskforce.

Chaired by Federico Marchetti, founder of the Yoox Net-a-porter Group, and boasting among its members Riccardo Bellini, president and CEO of Chloé; Maximilian Bittner, CEO of Vestiaire Collective; Gabriela Hearst, founder of Gabriela Hearst and Riccardo Stefanelli, CEO of Brunello Cucinelli among the others, the Fashion Taskforce unveiled, as part of The Prince of Wales' visit to the G20, a Digital ID. The latter, initially a QR code, but brands may choose their own platforms and formats, from the blockchain to NFTs, will allow consumers to gather further information about a specific product and discover its sustainability credentials, guaranteeing transparency and traceability.

In the last few years quite a few brands and groups have been moving towards this solution: in 2019 French luxury goods conglomerate Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy (LVMH) started exploring the possibilities of the blockchain and invested millions to establish the AURA platform, that recently turned into a Consortium (that now comprises also the Prada Group, Compagnie Financière Richemont and OTB). The groups that joined the AURA blockchain want to give their consumers a message about responsible sourcing, traceability along the supply chain and sustainability, as the blockchain allows companies to track the raw materials and original components employed to make a product. 

"The new Digital ID shows how business is committed to meaningful, measurable change: providing customers with the information they need to make cleaner, healthier, and more sustainable choices. It shows that business doesn't just talk about these issues, but has taken action," the Prince of Wales stated while at the G20 summit in Rome. Let's just hope these initiatives are not temporary stunts to attract the attention of the media (well, in Cucinelli's case they certainly aren't stunts...) and that more will follow along these lines in future.

Small Sustainable Parts: Corozo & Codelite Buttons

In yesterday's post we looked at a sustainable fabric made with straw, so let's now focus on small yet sustainable parts that are still vital to create a garment, such as buttons.

According to materials scientists and historians, the downfall of Napoleon's great army was caused not by powerful weapons, but by tiny buttons. In December 1812, Napoleon's army, originally comprising 600,000 soldiers, returned from Russia with only 10,000 men. Unbeaten until then, the soldiers had to fight against adverse weather conditions, but also against a terrible wardrobe malfunction caused by chemical properties: the buttons of their uniforms that also held up their pants were indeed made of tin, a metal that turns into gray dust when the temperature drops. 

The tin buttons that fastened everything from the great coats to the trousers and jackets of his foot soldiers, therefore disintegrated as temperatures dripped. Weakened by the chilling cold they couldn't fight nor resist. And while some disagree with this theory as the disintegration of tin is a slow process, it is a fascinating story that invites us to consider the importance of buttons.

Made with a variety of materials – from metal to mother-of-pearl, wood, ivory or horn – the most common modern buttons are made of plastic and they may therefore be another cause of pollution (unless you remove them from old clothes and reuse them for other garments or projects – many of us do so and quite a few of us love to collect buttons as well...).

Some companies are trying to come up with sustainable solutions, though: Courtney & Co are the last button makers in the UK and at the moment they are working on developing horn buttons. In the meantime, they have two types of buttons that you may find intriguing - one is made with the Corozo nut; the other with Codelite, sourced from milk casein.

Also known as "vegetable ivory", Corozo derives from the nut of Ecuador's indigenous Tagua palm trees. It takes 15 years for a Tagua tree to mature and produce its first crop, but, from then on, the tree will produce nuts for a century or more. Every year a Tagua palm tree can produce 15 balls called "mococha" that contain up to 1,800 nuts (the mocochas are not harvested, but fall off the tree when they are mature). To make 500 buttons you need 120 nuts and, by purchasing them, designers and consumers can contribute to maintain and protect the ancient rainforests in Central America. Corozo can also be dyed in vibrant shades, so that Courtney & Co's buttons come in the most brilliant colours.

Codelite® derives instead from 96% casein, a protein found in milk. Rennet, a complex set of enzymes produced in the stomachs of ruminant mammals, is introduced to the milk so that solids (curds) can be separated from the liquid (whey). Edible acids are added to accelerate the process. Formalin is added to turn the substance into a solid material at a rate of about 1mm in thickness per week, while whey is sold as a commercially valuable commodity with many diverse uses. It takes 33kg of milk to make 1kg of Codelite®. 

Codelite® was first produced in the UK as far back as 1910 at a factory in Stroud, Gloucestershire. Casein production ceased in the '60s when the UK's last milk casein-making plant in Gloucester was closed. While production of milk casein buttons continued in the UK until the early '70s.

Like Corozo, Codelite® is a versatile material and can be dyed and polished. Fashion historians may remember that the history of fashion actually includes a textile made with casein, lanital, a synthetic wool that combined in its name the words "lana" (wool) and "Italia". First developed in 1916 by a German chemist and improved by Italian engineer Antonio Ferretti in 1935, lanital was obtained from milk casein and had a molecular structure very similar to that of wool.

A few designers have started using these buttons, among the others Phoebe English, who mainly employs natural dyes and waste fabrics in her designs.

Robust, hard-wearing and washable in ordinary machines, these sustainable buttons have an added value - they are indeed biodegradable as well.

Is the Future of Fashion Made of Straw?

Leaders of the world's wealthiest nations are currently converging in Rome for the G20 summit that will kick off in the Italian capital at the weekend. At the summit they will discuss climate change, Covid-19 and the post-pandemic global recovery. The meeting anticipates the United Nations COP26 climate change conference, starting in Glasgow on 31st October.

Climate change is already one of the main topics of interest at the moment, but expect it to be the focus of the news in the next few days. So, let's start analyzing this theme by looking at a designer, Rolf Ekroth, who has been employing in his collections (currently on display at Helsinki's Designmuseo as part of the exhibition "Intimacy"), a sustainable straw-based fiber, Bio2™Textile. The material was developed by Finnish state-owned company Fortum, based in Espoo.

Knowing that using polyester and cotton is unsustainable in terms of water and chemical use as well as emissions and considering how we waste millions of tons of straw, Ekroth opted to experiment in his collection with this innovative textile that is based on what's essentially considered an agro-residue.

While some straw is left in the fields as fertilizer, the rest is indeed usually burned, a process that causes severe pollution problems as it releases carbon dioxide. But this waste can be turned into valuable products. 

Bio2™Textile fiber was developed in the Fortum's Bio2X product development programme: the material is made using the "fractionation" process developed by Oulu-based biorefining technology company Chempolis, using its own formicofib™ solution (that uses straw to produce the cellulose needed for the manufacture of the fiber). 

This process separates the biomass into lignin, cellulose and hemicellulose with high yields and purities, fractions that can then be used to replace fossil-derived raw materials in many industrial and consumer sectors.  

Straw is turned into a textile through a carbamate process which involves animal feed grade urea instead of carbon disulfide, a toxin involved in other textile processes. 

According to Fortum, Bio2™Textile fibers have extremely low environmental impact and can replace unsustainable materials in a variety of applications, so they may open up huge possibilities globally.

Fortum and sustainable fiber technology company Spinnova had unveiled wheat straw-based clothing in 2019 and showcased them at the Textile Exchange Sustainability Conference in Vancouver, but, rather than experimenting with them with one or two garments, Ekroth developed entire collections based around this innovative textile.

For his S/S 22 collection, Ekroth was inspired by Juhannus, the Finnish Midsummer and the traditions and magic surrounding it. The theme of Finnish pagan beliefs strongly related to nature and farming were also present in Ekroth's new Autumn/Winter 21 collection, "Reset".

The latter is indeed inspired by '80s horror films, Finnish agricultural, farming traditions, ancient customs and beliefs. While Ekroth employed the textile for his T-shirts, hoodies, skirts and capes, a straw theme appeared in the prints inspired by Finnish field landscapes as well. The designer also appliqued straw elements and "himmeli" (Finnish Christmas decorations) dolls hinting at pagan traditions, to some of his designs.

There are obviously many pros in opting for this textile: it has indeed a cotton-like consistency, it is very easy to dye and it needs less chemicals and water in the dyeing process than normal viscose and cotton fabrics. One experimental textile may not bring some real changes, though, so new researches in alternative textile fibers will have to be on the top priority list of actions for global textile industry operators and consumers in the next few years. New environmentally friendly solutions and textiles manufactured through ethically-sourced and sustainable resources, will have to be developed in the years to come.

These new textiles may not just be good for fashion in general, but they may open up new opportunities in other countries as well: in 2018, Fortum established indeed a joint venture biorefinery in Assam, India (with Chempolis and Numaligarh Refinery Limited, NRL) that uses as key raw material bamboo and that produces biochemical and biocoal (employed to produce heat and power to the biorefinery).

As more than 60 percent of the world's textiles are still made from oil-based raw materials and cotton is still widely used in fashion despite its unsustainable production practices (consider the fertilizers and pesticides used to grow cotton which threaten the quality of soil and water), research is the key.

At the moment, there aren't too many alternative solutions on the market and many textiles are still in their developmental phase, but Finland is conducting extensive, multidisciplinary research on fabrics and Aalto University is involved in development work. Designers and educational institutions as well should therefore focus on textile research as this is definitely a sector of interest that may lead to innovative and intriguing discoveries and to exciting jobs as well.

An Intimate Affair with Fashion: Intimacy @ Designmuseo, Helsinki, Finland

Yesterday we looked at physical and digital inspirations and at the moment there is an exhibition at Helsinki's Designmuseo that looks at the intersection between the human body and digital environments in fashion.

"Intimacy" (until 13th March 2022) is an exploration of the relationship between the body and the clothes we wear, passing through the creative design project and looking at the impact of digitalization and datafication on the work of designers.

Garments and accessories connect us with our bodies, but also with other people, so that, even when we say we don't like fashion or we don't follow it, we end up communicating something about ourselves to others.

Yet, in the last few decades, fashion has implemented its communication skills and now carries a variety of messages - from political to sustainable, from inclusive to body positive. Besides, the digitalization of fashion is pushing it towards other boundaries: nowadays we can make or buy luxury outfits for our avatars in videogames and online global platforms; we can buy a digital outfit for a selfie or monitor and store data about ourselves in our clothes and accessories.

Curated by Aalto University Professor Annamari Vänskä, post-doctoral researcher Jenni Hokka and PhD-researcher Natalia Särmäkari, "Intimacy" showcases the works of over 40 Finnish designers and companies.

The starting point for the event is a dictionary entry defining "intimacy" as "the state of being intimate: familiarity", "something of a personal or private nature", "the state of having a close, personal relationship or romantic relationship with someone". From these definitions the curators developed seven themes.

In the "Intimacy of Design" section the curators look at the one-to-one relationship established between artisan and client, so think about a tailor and a customer.

The first step of this relationship is body knowledge: a design starts indeed with an idea or a sketch, but then you need precise calculations, patternmaking skills and material researches to actually make it. So, getting to know the customer's body is crucial and this phase could almost be considered as a careful medical examination that establishes where seams, drapes, folds, ruffles and other elements of the desired design should be placed.

"Public Intimacy" is the opposite of the previous concept and looks at the relationship established between the wearer and the rest of the world.

We are fully clothed when we meet people in public and our clothes depend from different occasions - from formal to informal events - regulated by social norms.

We use some of these occasions as moments for self-expression that define us publicly, revealing who we are, what we support or what we like (think about using colours to show our allegiance to a cause or wearing a simple slogan T-shirt that may reveal our political opinions or personal interests) and how we would like to be perceived by others. Choosing specific brands or designers may also show a belonging to a specific community of fashion fans.

"Changes in Intimacy" refers instead to the changes fashion went through and to the fact that it is nowadays considered as a medium for critical and creative thought, in connection with other fields, including art, architecture and computer games.

The next theme - "Boundaries of Intimacy" - is directly linked with the previous section, as it tries to consider more specific connections between fashion and architecture, painting, sculpture, films and videogames. 

The final sections look at the digital world: in "Shared Intimacy", curators were inspired by the 1967 work "The Fashion System" (Système de la mode) by French literary theorist Roland Barthes and by his theory about clothes producing meanings and fashion as a communication tool. But this concept is explored via new means of communication and new fashion interpreters including celebrities and influencers.

"Measured Intimacy" is the practical counterpart of the previous section with a look at wearable technologies - clothes, accessories or jewellery - with measuring or monitoring devices capable of gathering a variety of data.

While the main functions of these clothes and accessories may be measuring activity levels or stress (the exhibition features Moodmetric smart rings that indicate the rises and falls of the wearer's stress level among other things) in sports and workwear (think about devices that monitor the production of workers…), there are monitoring devices for specific medical reasons (for blood pressure, heart rate, and blood oxygen, but think also about trackers for Alzheimer patients and elderly people), workplace security or social interactions.

A final section is dedicated to "An Intimate Experience" and invites instead visitors to consider the ability of fashion to produce multi-sensory experiences with imagination and fantasy.

Visitors will discover a wide range of designers, creators and brands: Venla Elonsalo, a finalist at the 2021 Hyères Festival, incorporates plush toys in her designs; Finnish-Dutch company The Fabricant, known for its 3D garments for avatars, is included with a digital-only fashion video with avatars, while Helsinki-based Sasu Kauppi (who also worked as a consultant for Kanye West's Yeezy) presents an installation in which his designs turn into projection screens. 

Other designers focus on body positivity and inclusion: Ervin Latimer, "Young Finnish Designer of the Year" at the 2020 Antwerp Queer Arts Festival, designs clothes that adapt to the wearer's body and size.

In her previous collections Henna Lampinen, was inspired by factory workers in the Second World War, '50s housewives and silver screen goddesses, in the exhibition she challenges body norms with her "They Call it a One Brief Transition" collection and film directed by Rosaliina Paavilainen. In the film Lampinen ponders in which ways thin bodies affect those people whose bodies do not meet ideal dimensions. Through the collection Hampinen hopes to give voice as well as visibility to obese bodies that the fashion industry has systematically sought to ignore.

Fans of sustainability wil be able to discover Rolf Ekroth's clothes made with Bio2™Textile, a bio-based textile fiber that uses straw, a high quality, renewable and recyclable solution that has never been seen before; fans of genderless designs will instead be more interested in checking out all-black, minimalist clothing by Nomen Nescio, a label based in Helsinki. There are more labels, designers and brands to discover or rediscover, among the others iconic Marimekko, and then Wildkind Kids, Anna Isoniemi, Teemu Muurimäki, Aapo Nikkanen, Oura, Leevi Ikäheimo, Vyner Articles, Daniel Palillo, Suunto, Moodmetric and Myontec. 

Some of the issues and questions posed by the curators in their research - how can fashion designers influence society through more socially responsible clothing? How has social media influenced the fashion world? In which ways can we connect the human body and technology? - may be answered better in a few years' time, so this event may be considered as a staring point. "Intimacy" is indeed part of a larger project, the research consortium Intimacy in Data-driven Culture, funded by the Strategic Research Council at the Academy of Finland, that will be working for the next three years on the topics of fashion and digitalization.

While it will be exciting to follow the developments of this research in the next few years, some of the current curators' findings and theories are already intriguing: the curators consider indeed the impact of social media and digital technologies on fashion as a form of democratization, as people who previously didn't have any access to this industry, can join the discourse by commenting and debating about it online. But maybe the merit of this exhibition stands in inviting visitors to consider fashion not as something frivolous, but as a powerful entity that works much better when it is creatively combined in connection with other disciplines, such as art, architecture and technology.

Digital & Physical Shades of Fuchsia

Our lives have more or less rebooted in this post-Covid world, but they still remain divided between the digital and the physical dimensions. After all, many of our activities and passions - think about meetings with colleagues or friends in other countries, playing videogames or shopping for bargains - still take place in digital environments.

So in today’s post let's look at two inspirations - digital and physical - reunited by the same shade, fuchsia.

The first one is an NFT, "Singularity" by generative artist Hideki Tsukamoto, who uses the blockchain as an artistic medium. The digital work of art was part of the Native Digital 1.2 sale on Sotheby's Metaverse, an immersive destination for collectors of digital art. The sale comprised 53 lots of culturally significant art from the vaults of 19 collectors and Hideki Tsukamoto's artwork (sold for 60,480 USD) consists in a series of purple, bright fuchsia and pink circles on a dark background.

The circles form a visually intriguing effect, but if you're after a tactile thrill go for something handcrafted like soprarizzo velvet fabric by the Venice-based Tessitura Bevilacqua.

The soprarrizzo fabric featured in this post is characterised by the lion motif - a symbol of power that historically appeared in different cultures and civilisations, from Egypt to Mesopotamia. The lion motif arrived to Italy from the Middle East through the Silk Road.   

This type of velvet that we often mentioned in previous posts is made employing silk threads arranged on a loom in 400 reels. From the reels, the threads run through the holes in the cardboards placed above the loom, allowing the pattern to take shape. 

The weaver slips between the threads of the warps coming out of the loom thin needles to weave the velvet overlay, which will then be removed with great precision. These needles are not identical to one another: those with a round section are used to create the effect of curly velvet. Others, however, have a groove through which the weaver runs a razor blade that cuts the threads of the pile, obtaining the cut velvet, higher than the curly one. Hence the name "soprarizzo" (or "sopra-riccio", that is "over-the-curls"). 

Guess apart from the digital/physical medium, there is another difference between these two pieces: it can take a long time to make a digital work of art, but soprarizzo velvet takes longer. This is indeed a time-consuming activity and an artisan can only make a 30cm piece of textile a day. So what will your inspiration be, digital or physical?

The Mesmerising Fluidity of Living Things: Spotlight on Jounghye Park, Jewelry Designer

As seen in previous posts, fabrics can be used in wonderful ways and can be employed to create striking three-dimensional designs and constructions.

Korean jewelry designer Jounghye Park, born in Seoul where she now runs a studio, has been developing for quite a few years extremely light pieces, including brooches and necklaces, inspired by nature and plants in particular, made with fibers and metals. Some of her pieces move, for example, from the shape of the Venus Flytrap, probably the most famous carnivorous plant.

Covid-19 prompted her to look at plants from a different perspective and in particular consider the spiral structures found in nature to hint at the fluidity of living things, the liquidity of creatures and the circularity of the ecosystem.

 

But there is another message behind these new designs that were exhibited in September during the "Green Environment" exhibition at the Ahwon Gallery in Seoul - an opportunity to question the way to recover connectivity with the nature and coexist as a part of nature. 

 

The making of these pieces is time-consuming: the designer makes small hand-dyed silk units that resemble leaves, berries or stems, and then combines them all together in pieces that call to mind garlands or dense agglomerations of lichens or, in some cases, they look as if they were made with the thick and fleshy leaves of succulent plants. The results are intriguing and the designer's Instagram page provides us with great insights on the process behind these pieces. 

The Stability of Jogakbo: Mina Kang's Wearable Three-Dimensional Patchworked Designs

Crafts, traditions and the passing of time have been the themes of the last two posts. Let's start a new week with a quick look at Mina Kang, a Korean jewelry designer who works with textiles and who tries to rediscover through her pieces traditions, while considering also the introspective, meditative and therapeutic aspects of stitching.

Using jogakbo (a Korean patchwork technique, traditionally used to create domestic wrapping cloths known as bojagi from scraps of left-over fabrics), Kang creates portable multi-coloured three-dimensional structures that look stiff enough to keep their shape, but are actually elastic and light when worn. 

The jewellery designer mainly uses ramie fabric, a linen-like cellulose fiber made from the stalks of the Chinese nettle plant traditionally favoured in Korea for summer clothes, because of its durability but also its breathability.

The fibers of the ramie fabric reveal a visually strong texture, but the actual textile is semi-transparent because of its porous structure.

In her creations Kang often employs a wide variety of bold colours for what regards the fabrics but also the threads that she uses to stitch the textiles together, creating in this way visually intriguing contrasts.

Her palette is inspired by mid-20th century paintings, but by the aerial view as well. Her compositions are indeed also influenced by the rural Korean landscape of rice paddies along hills and valleys.

Quite often Kang starts implusively to create a piece; in other cases she has a detailed plan and knows the shape her brooches or necklaces will take. Regardless of the shapes she may have in mind, Kang always tries to design her pieces around a story.

While her ancestors sewed jogakbo as prayers for peace, Kang conceives indeed her pieces as portable prayers for stability and comfort in our times with an added value - the process of making them gives her the chance to ponder and meditate about her own life.

Preserving the Legacy of Time-Honored Crafts: The Art of Lim Keum-hee, Dahoejang

In yesterday's post we looked at the theme of time passing and transforming things as interpreted by a Korean artist. Let's continue the thread and look at another Korean artist and textile designer who has been indirectly tackling the same issue by preserving time-honored traditions - master craftsman Lim Keum-hee.

Originally from Yeongju, North Gyeongsang, a town that values traditions and the clothing culture of scholars, Lim Keum-hee, studied for decades the Dahoe (多繪) and the Mangsu (罔繡). 

The dahoe are cords made by twisting ramie, cotton or silk thread; there are two types of dahoe, the flat and wide kwangdahoe (mainly used for belts and accessories for Joseon men) and rounded dongdahoe (used in traditional ornaments in women's clothing or other accessories that required knots). 

The mangsu is instead a thicker version of a woven thread wide cord adopted for various uses such as embellishment for costumes, decorative pendants or a decorative string for a small knife.

Both dahoe and mangsu were characterised by splendid patterns and played key roles at the court or in scholars' clothing during the Joseon dynasty (1392-1910), an era characterised by strict etiquette.

We talk a lot about a slower fashion industry inspired also by the work of craftspeople, and Lim Keum-hee's historical research in textiles and her training could be a good example of slow art as it was meticulously rigorous and lasted 30 years.

Lim moved to Seoul in 1983 and started learning the art of knot-tying and embroidery as a hobby. She became a student of Kim Ju-hyun, the best-known maedeupjang, a master of decorative knotting.

Fascinated by the art of weaving, she eventually managed to bring back to life part of the traditional technique for dahoe and mangsu, learning also how to dye the thread to reproduce the traditional colours she wanted as she found it difficult to get threads in the exact colours she was looking for.

Making these pieces is a painfully slow art: you can weave two to three centimeters of a dahoe a day (if a mistake is committed the weaving must restart from scratch) and the weaving process can be physically daring as the artisan must use small weights that lead to hip pain and fatigue.

Still, Lim Keum-hee feels she was destined to this career as her name Keum-hee, derives from the Chinese characters "Keum," meaning silk, and "Hee," meaning woman. Master craftsman Keumhee Lim is currently the only dahoejang (master craftsperson who makes dahoe) left in Korea.

Upon the Transitoriness of Human Existence: Juree Kim @ "Korea. Gateway to a rich past", The Princessehof National Museum of Ceramics, Leeuwarden, The Netherlands

Mention Korea and our minds will conjure up ultra-famous K-pop acts à la BTS, innovative Korean beauty products, Oscar-winning films such as Bong Joon-ho's "Parasite" and blockbuster shows like "Squid Games", not to mention popular brands like Samsung and Kia.

People who love peppering their language with foreign words will also immediately think about the 20 new words of Korean origins that recently entered the Oxford English Dictionary, including hallyu (the "Korean wave", a collective term referring to the popularity of South Korea's cultural economy exporting pop culture, entertainment, music, TV dramas and movies), aegyo (similar to the Japanese kawaii), hanbok (the traditional dress) and mukbang (livestreams of people eating extraordinary amounts of food while talking to their online audience).

The Keramiekmuseum Princessehof in Leeuwarden, The Netherlands, is promising its visitors to go beyond all this influences and inspirations, though, and discover this country with a unique exhibition.

Focused on food culture, beauty ideals and rituals, "Korea. Gateway to a rich past" (until 22nd August 2022) features a wide range of artworks and artefacts, from precious jade green celadon and pure white porcelain pieces to storage jars and ancient pottery, makeup boxes (for pigments and hair accessories) from the Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392), musical instruments, film images and costumes and accessories like the trademark black hat of the yangban elite. The role of ceremonies and rituals is also discussed in detail: incense burners, vases, dance robes and other ritual objects provide insight into the many ceremonies that have formed an important part of Korean society over the centuries.

Some of these pieces are on loan from the National Museum of Korea and the Gugak National Center in Seoul, the Museum of Ethnology (Museum Volkenkunde) in Leiden. 

For younger visitors there's a video of Min Yoon-gi better known as Agust D or as Suga of K-pop sensation BTS, in which the performer pays homage to Korean culture, and obviously meokbang video clips.

The exhibition also features pieces by contemporary artists: "Translated Vase" by Yee Sookyung, incorporates ceramic shards glued together with gold lacquer according to the Japanese kintsugi method; Kyung-Jin Cho's installation "Swing Jam", created in response to an earthquake that hit Korea in 2016, is a total meditative experience, a ball that floats between earthenware pots and taps them gently.  

Among the stand-out pieces there is a new creation by Juree Kim. An artist displayed in museums all over the world (including the V&A in London) Juree Kim creates Korean buildings and houses using clay and lets the pieces getting destroyed by water that slowly corrodes the clay.

In October, before the exhibition opened, Juree Kim attended a residency with ceramists Paulien Ploeger and Her Comis in St. Jacobiparochie, Friesland, and she made a new clay sculpture.

This model of a typical Korean house will be placed in a basin of water at the "Korea" exhibition. During the event, the water will erode the clay, causing the work to slowly decay. This process symbolises the passing of time and traditions in Korean society, but Juree Kim's sculptures are extremely pertinent to our times in general.

They tell indeed stories of transience, hydrogeological disasters, the mutation of landscapes through corrosions and the erosion of memories. These architectural models could be considered as mementos of the transitoriness of human existence, they remind us indeed we are removable and evanescent and, by doing so, they trigger a cathartic process in the viewers.   

Port Congestions & The Supply Chain Bottlenecks Through Art, Architecture & Fashion

Coronavirus remains the main emergency at the moment, but, among the most prominent news, there are a lot of reports about the supply chain disruptions all over the world.

The supply chain crisis is actually linked with the pandemic: consumer sales dramatically increased with lockdowns that caused an overwhelming demand for a wide range of imported products.

At the same time, there were shortages of trucks, drivers and warehouse workers with some members of the workforce recovering from Covid as well. But, as demands soar again with economy restarting after Covid, things are getting even worse: it is estimated that 8.5% of global constainer shipping is stalled around ports, twice as much as in January.

At the moment there are backlogs of cargo ships sitting idle in the waters outside ports all over the world: the number of cargo ships in southern California reached an all-time high a few days ago, there were for example over 100 ships waiting to unload thousands of containers outside the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach earlier on this week. But the situation is the same also at ports in New York and Savannah, Georgia.

In the UK the problem is exasperated by Brexit and the ongoing supply chain disruption led to empty shelves in supermarkets and queues at petrol stations.

Last month, the UK government agreed to grant 5,000 temporary visas to non-UK lorry drivers while British ministers recently announced plans to allow EU lorry drivers to make an unlimited number of pick-ups and drop-offs within a fixed period (two weeks) to try and solve the supply chain problems. The temporary relaxation of cabotage rules applies to all kinds of goods, but in particular to the food supply chains and the regulations should help ease some product shortages.

Yet this international problem is expected to continue into next year. The supply chain disruptions are going to have the most tragic impacts on the environment and public health as the ships have diesel-fuelled engines that emit pollutants while they're anchored outside the ports (in normal times, the ports create more than 100 tons of smog and other cancer-causing contaminants each day).

Raising awareness to the supply chain crisis, and to its consequences is therefore important and it is possible to do so also by looking at projects and collections inspired by shipping containers or reusing them. 

There have been quite a few architecture studios all over the world that have tried to launch projects to recycle shipping containers, employing them for temporary shops and cafes, office spaces and even flats.  

As you may remember from a previous post, last year Italian Professor Carlo Ratti, founder of Carlo Ratti Associati studio and Director of the Senseable City Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), collaborated with an international group of architects, designers, engineers, doctors, military experts and NGOs to develop an open-source project called "CURA" - an acronym standing for "Connected Units for Respiratory Ailments".  

CURA consisted in converting 20-foot intermodal shipping containers into plug-in Intensive-Care Units (ICU) for COVID-19 patients.  

Fashion has equally been inspired by shipping containers: Chanel's 15th Métiers d'Art Collection, showcased in December 2017 in Hamburg, Germany, combined industrial and architectural inspirations. 

The stretchy knits with geometrically ordered rusty orange, red and blue grid patterns were inspired by the rows of coloured cargo containers you can easily spot in commercial ports. This inspiration became clearer also in the bags matched with these designs that were shaped like the cargo containers in Hamburg's dockside.

After seeing the bags people familiar with art and architecture may have immediately thought about the works of Joshua Smith, the Australia-based miniaturist and former stencil artist.

Well-known for his reproductions of derelict buildings and other assorted urban features, Smith creates from cardboard, paper, plastruct and fabric, miniature cargo containers inspired by the ones in the Hong Kong docks. 

A shipping container-shaped bag may not help us solving the port congestions and supply chain issues, but we may use these inspirations to remind us about the current supply chain crisis and to inspire us to think about creative solutions to container congestion plaguing ports all over the world.