As one of the largest global polluters, the clothing industry has yet to rehabilitate the way it operates courtesy super-fast and fast fashion. Among various conversations surrounding conscious consumption and production, sustainable practices, and lifestyles, there is a dearth of dialogue on cultural sustainability. Before fast and super-fast fashion set roots, India had a native practice of repairing, reworking and reconstructing clothes so that they lasted beyond its intended shelf life.
The pop-up installation on the ground of Victoria Memorial grounds saw people participating in exercises of recycling and repair and learning about sustainable fashion. Activities included using blocks and paint to transform old things to new, learning to deconstruct and then further reconstructing clothing and upcycling the forms into contemporary pieces of garments. The installation had posters and other visual material on humans’ relationship with clothing and ideas surrounding sustainable practices which are possible in the shaping of one’s wardrobe.
Artist’s details: KALLOL DATTA
Kallol Datta is a clothes maker who lives and works in Kolkata, India. He spent his childhood in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Manama. Kallol graduated in Womenswear from
Central St. Martins, London in 2006. A cornerstone of his work is extensive creative research into clothing practices, native to the SWANA region, the Indian Subcontinent, and the Korean Peninsula. Making structural experimentations in pattern cutting, he skews traditional geometry to create silhouettes that shroud, swaddle and cocoon the body that inhabits the textile object. He had his first solo in 2017 at Experimenter Gallery, Kolkata and has been part of residencies at KHOJ International Artists Association, New Delhi and T.A.J. Residency and SKE Projects, Bengaluru. Kallol was awarded the Arts Network Asia Grant in 2019 and was a finalist of the Jameel Prize in 2021. He has exhibited at Aomori Contemporary Art Centre; Aomori, Centro Cultural La Modena; Santiago, Victoria and Albert Museum; London, Nomad Monaco and Beirut Design Fair. His second solo is being showcased at Experimenter, Kolkata, from 15 July till 23 September 2022.
