CONFERENCE
Rejecting the outdated notion that fashion is somehow art’s other, the title Cultural Fabric has been chosen to evoke the interwoven threads of experience, methodology and symbolism that are shared and exchanged between these two systems as equally essential modes of expression. By tracing both the commonalities between fashion and art, while also acknowledging the points at which they split, Fotografiska Days illuminates the ways in which different visual, digital and textile materialities can tell us stories of both the self and the societal, the personal and the political.
Working first and foremost as a multifaceted comment on contemporary society, the pro-gramme and exhibition will illuminate what it means for the fashion industry to sell products via visual means while undoubtedly commodifying diverse human experiences, often without proper context or care. Intended to redefine such cultural standards, tastes and trends, Fotografiska Days will foreground the innovative and subversive power that can be harnessed when using the visual languages of art and fashion to reread image and brand-making strategies. Embracing the commercial aspect that both fashion and art depend on to thrive, the pro-gramme examines contemporary creative economies through conversations around appropriation, commodification and aesthetics and–perhaps most importantly–the radical possibilities for disrupting these economies in pursuit of maintaining both social integrity and artistic independence.
The invited roster of guests and speakers for Fotografiska Days: Cultural Fabric includes a diverse array of figures from the broad field of visual production, including photographers, artists, curators, fashion designers, theorists, critics and magazine editors. Together, they will create space for discussions around the complicit roles that images play in the worlds of both fashion and art, and work towards cultivating new critical perspectives regarding the production, dissemination and consumption of them today.
PANEL 01
FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 4PM
Artist and Fashion Brand Partnerships: Co-operation or Co-Dependency?
Focusing on the collaboration between fashion brands and artists, the panel speaks of a variety of operational strategies and practical methodologies. In a world where markets and labor forms of both fashion and art continue to intersect, overlay and alter, we aim to unpack the differences and similarities—presenting advantages and obstacles of either and both.
Moderator:
Victoria Camblin (032c Editor-at-Large/Co-Founder of Magazine.Capital)
Speakers:
Viviane Sassen (Visual Artist)
Moreno Schweikle (Artist)
Gea Politi (Publisher and Chief Editor of Flash Art)
Mathieu Meyer (Founder of Studio Mathieu Meyer)
PANEL 02
FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 6PM
Blurred Lines — Where Digital Fashion Meets Art
The focal point of the panel–in practice and in theory–is artistic and design production at the intersection of digital fashion and contemporary art. We will examine the inclusivity of the digital fashion sphere, specifically in relation to body and representation. Furthermore, we will speculate about possibilities of a more sustainable future for the fashion/art ecosystems.
Moderator: Lea Vene
(Independent Curator, Cultural Anthropologist & Lecturer)
Speakers:
Giancarlo Pazzanese
(Senior Lecturer at Amsterdam Fashion Academy)
Beata Wilczek
(Fashion & Technology Strategist/Founder of Unfolding Strategies)
Scarlett Yang (Designer and Artist)
Yvonne Foerster
(Art, Fashion & Science Philosopher and Professor)
PANEL 03
SATURDAY, MARCH 25, 1:30PM
Location of Criticality — Challenging Dominant Fashion and Artistic Practices
With the increasing professionalization and financialization of art, where does criticality lie? What are the possibilities of a critical approach to fashion practices? Focusing on the location of criticality and tackling shared work methodologies relevant for both systems, we will address curatorial and artistic methods offering alternative approaches to the fashion industry.
Moderator:
Caroline Stevenson (Programme Director of Fashion and Cultural Studies at the London College of Fashion)
Speakers:
Femke de Vries (Artist, Researcher, Teacher)
Tuukka Laurila
(Founder and Director of The Community Art Center)
Jeppe Ugelvig (Curator, Historian, Cultural Critic)
PANEL 04
SATURDAY, MARCH 25, 3:30PM
A Closer Look: On the Exhibiting Artists and their Work
Dedicated to the work of four selected artists presented in the central exhibition of Fotografiska Days and the differential ways they relate to the umbrella topic CULTURAL FABRIC — Rereading the Relationship Between Fashion and Art Practices, this panel offers space for individual explorations and interpretations of the subjects at hand.
Moderator:
Olamiju Fajemisin (Independent Writer, Editor and Curator)
Speakers:
Sejla Kameric (Exhibiting Artist)
Cibelle Cavalli Bastos (Exhibiting Artist)
Jojo Gronostay (Exhibiting Artist)
Irene Ha (Exhibiting Artist)
FILM SCREENINGS
FRIDAY MARCH 23, 8PM
Expanding on the main theme CULTURAL FABRIC, and diving deeper into the sub-categories, as a part of our conference program, Fotografiska Days offers a selection of short films in collaboration with Diane Pernet’s A Shaded View on Fashion Film (ASVOFF).
FILM SELECTION
- Ebeneza Blanche, Mathlete (14th ASVOFF Winner)
- Mab Sanders, Robert’s Mum Georgie
- Susanne Deeken, The Hairy Notion of a Green Afternoon (13th ASVOFF Winner)
- Alice Fassi, Hymn to Nonsense (12th ASVOFF Winner)
- Ashim Ahluwalia, HUM हम (We/Us)
- Jeana Elizabeth Theron, Bride Amour
- Tim Yip, Love infinity 3: Half Human Half Ghost
