Dear Shaded Viewers,
Antwerp fashion museum MoMu gets ready to open its doors for visitors this Saturday, September 4th with an ambitious project titled ‘Fashion 2.021 Antwerp – Fashion/Conscious’ that explores the theme of global transition and meaningful shifts within the world of fashion under the vision of Director and Chief Curator Kaat Debo.
Starting from this Saturday, September 4th until January 2022, MoMu will be offering a line-up of interesting exhibitions, city-walks, activities, experiences and open-air projects their visitors can enjoy and be part of. The theme Fashion Conscious will aim to explore the relationship between fashion/individual, fashion/sustainability and raise awareness on Antwerp’s place in fashion history, the importance of its avant-garde fashion and academy.
To kick start the event, MoMu collaborated with designer Walter Van Beirendonck and students of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp to celebrate the opening of the fashion museum, presenting a series of colourful installations called “Fashion Balls”, an interactive and playful experience for visitors to enjoy in various locations around the city.
“We made it interactive and hope that everyone will be stimulated to take selfies with the city as a backdrop this way. It’s a project that’s very accessible – that’s why we made the ‘Fashion Balls’ in all kinds of sizes. This project will appeal to both international fashion fans and casual passers-by to take part,” said Walter Van Beirendonck.
After almost two years living under a pandemic, the need for human interaction and emotion will be discussed starting with the exhibition “E/MOTION: Fashion in Transition“, which will look back at the events of the past three decades that have disrupted the industry; from social movements to political transitions, digital revolution to discussions about the female body… and portray the creative response fashion designers have given. The selected works will shed light on how fashion is constantly in dialogue with the now and can be used as an emotional expression which mirrors society.
“Understanding fashion is a way to understand, and even articulate, both the hopeful and uncomfortable truths of the world. ‘E/MOTION’ looks at the way fashion has been a visual signifier of contemporary instabilities, concerns and emotions.” reads the website.
The second will be the reopening of the “Collection Presentation – Fashion From The MoMu Collection” presenting the origins of both avant-garde Belgian fashion along with its place in the international scene. The collection will feature a permanent display of over 35,000 pieces which will highlight silhouettes, imagery and archive material of Belgian avant-garde and international fashion, presenting the works of the Antwerp 6, Helmut Lang, Yohji Yamamoto, Rushemy Botter, Jurgi Persoons, Bernhard Willhelm, Olivier Theyskens, Stephen Jones, Haider Ackermann… along with the works of students from the Fashion Department of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp.
The third exhibition titled “P.LACE.S – Looking Through Antwerp Lace” will emphasise Antwerp’s importance in the production and trade of lace throughout history. The selected works will approach the historic craftsmanship with a fresh outlook and stage the innovative techniques (high-tech 3-D printing, laser cutting) designers are experimenting with lace, taking examples from the works of Iris van Herpen, Azzedine Alaïa, Chanel, Prada and Louis Vuitton…
As we are all wondering about the future, what our industry will look like after the pandemic, in what ways it is changing… it will be interesting to visit the exhibitions and look at the past events that have disrupted our societies and remember how fashion has reacted. In the famous words of Belgian designer Martin Margiela “the past is what bonds us, the future leads us”.
Mark your calendars!
