Naturale, Rigenerato, Fatto a Mano (Organic, Recycled, Off the Grid)

 

We may wonder what exactly is the relationship between a fashion exhibit and the Music Museum. The Project "Organic, Recycled, Handmade: Fashion and Ethics in the work of Christina Kim" gives us an immediate answer. Kim's designs fit so well into the rooms of the museum, as so to become a subdued and refined homage to the theme of the museum itself.

 

The delicate structure hanging from the upstairs entrance – which we have playfully renamed 'the phantom of the museum' - metaphorically makes notes rise from the musical instruments embroidered in gold on the delicate muslin, almost a synesthesia. The golden rings of milagros hanging from the dome, the banners and curtains which, starting from the top of the grand staircase escort the visitors from one room to the other, may be seen as a variation in fabric of a wider kind of musicality. Craftsmanship of the fabric, repossession of ancient traditions, and appreciation of the organic and the handmade: this is Christina Kim's philosophy. The museum has welcomed her work with enthusiasm, not only for the beauty of the clothes on show, but also for the underlying ethical message.

 

The exhibition has been the result of an extraordinary synergy among various institutions and people, from the Institute for Advanced Studies of the University of Bologna (Alma Mater Studiorum), in whose focus group 'Creativity, Technology, and Design' the idea was born, to the City of Bologna, as well as to many patrons and sponsors committed to the theme of ecological sustainability and the reuse of discards. They wished to create an event linked to the city and its surroundings.

 

Giovanna Franci ISA - Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna

 

 

photo: Raymond Meier, Mark Schooley, Studio Pym/Nicoletti e Studio Cesari