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28 September 2023
New fashion strategies are the focus of scientists and practitioners at this year's re:pair festival
Last year, the first re:pair festival attracted interest from people who wanted to gain more theoretical knowledge about circular economy strategies and learn practical skills. Fashion was already a theme in 2022. This year, during its run from 13 October to 5 November, the festival will focus explicitly on the fashion industry, which is one of the most resource-intensive sectors of the economy with high CO2 emissions and unfair working conditions.
Tina Zickler, initiator and curator of the re:pair festival Vienna, explained that the focus on fashion is due to the fact that the textile industry is currently the second most polluting industry in the world, after the oil industry. She pointed out the irony of how clothing and textiles, once highly valued, have become cheap and disposable products in industrialized nations. Zickler suggested several actions to address this issue, including reducing consumption, purchasing second-hand items, participating in clothing swaps, and, most importantly, repairing and altering clothing to extend its lifespan.
Based on these thoughts, the festival offers a variety of exhibitions, lectures and workshops at different locations, such as the lecture 'Meet A Scientist: Fast Fashion' by Karina Grömer at the Natural History Museum Vienna on 25 October. Textile archaeologist Karina Grömer won the Austrian Science Slam 2020 for presenting a scientific topic in a talk to a non-expert audience. In her lecture, she will give an insight into her research and the textile art of the Hallstatt period as an alternative to today's fast fashion.
Another highlight is the lecture about sewing boxes which tells the cultural history of repairing textiles at home by the cultural and art scientist, researcher on sustainability at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, Heike Derwanz on 22 October at the Volkskundemuseum. Heike Derwanz will shed new light on the value of these boxes containing sewing material. The lecture is part of the exhibition 'Nähkästchen' (Sewing Box) at the Volkskundemuseum.
The program on https://repair-festival.wien/ is structured according to the four main pillars: Lectures, exhibitions, workshops, and the so-called 'ambulances', such as the one for textiles, which can be visited on October 21 at the Volkskundemuseum. It's announced that alterations and repairs such as sewing on buttons, shortening trousers, replacing zippers, and more will be offered on that day.
Image: Festival director Tina Zickler. Photo: © kollektiv fischka/Stefanie Freynschlag.
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