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20 January 2023
Textile designer, artist Birke Gorm stages the exploitation of women and the planet in the MAK exhibition 'dead stock' with reference to costume history, gender roles, work and production processes
At the beginning of this week, the annual program of the MAK Museum of Applied Arts was presented at a press conference including a live stream. One of this year's main focuses is fashion with special exhibitions at the museum's branch Geymüllerschlössel, a summer palace furnished with highlights of the Biedermeier. Last year, the palace and its garden were used for the first time for the new fashion exhibition series accompanied by talks and discussions as well as market events and workshops for kids. In 2023, the '(Con)Temporary Fashion Showcase'-series will be continued with two exhibitions dedicated to fashion and its critical potential as an invitation to rethink fashion. Closer details haven't been released yet.
But what's been already made public are the details about the upcoming exhibition 'dead stock' by textile designer and artist Birke Gorm at the MAK Gallery in the museum's main building at the Stubenring. From 1 February until 25 June, the German born, in Vienna working and living Birke Gorm presents a scenery with textile sculptures made from jute bags for telling the story about the exploitation of women and the planet. With references to the early beginnings of the division of labor between hunters and collectors leads to contemporary gender inequalities such as unpaid and underpaid work by women, to the exhibition's name giving term 'dead stock' related to industrial overproduction and the agricultural term 'gleaning' denoting the collection of leftovers, Birke Gorm provides a holistic view on gender roles, labor inequalities, the production of waste and possible strategies to preserve nature.
Bags and pockets on clothing play a special role at Birke Gorm's work. In the press release, this thread of the installation is introduced with a review of costume history and the difference of male and female clothing in regard to pockets on clothing or bags.
It's announced that the exhibition 'dead stock' will be accompanied by events. At the 'MAK Design Kids: Softis. Textile Workshop with the artist Noushin Redjaian' on 4 February, children will be introduced into design processes and will learn to find shapes and form figures.
Image: Installation view Birke Gorm 'girl anachronism', Vestjyllands Kunstpavillon, Dänemark, 2022. Photo: © Jacob Friis-Holm Nielsen.
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