In the exhibition Fashion as Encounters, co-curators NOT____ENOUGH Collective invites the audience to actively redefine the meanings of fashion. Dominant views on being, making, and valuing are challenged within the industrial fashion system, making space for untold stories, unseen feelings and existing knowledges that have been historically erased. 

More information about the exhibition Fashion as Encounters that took place in the Eusebius Church can be found here.

Around the world, the high street is in urgent need of redesign. From how we shop, repair, sew, swap, collaborate, create and customise, we need to build an entirely new experience around clothes and accessories, the ways to express ourselves through what we wear, and how and where we access fashion.

The 'Promenade on Slow Street' was a walk into a near future scenario, where the high street is about relationships and social interaction rather than simply commerce and product. We have commissioned a central 'living sculpture', an installation in which visitors can visualise and imagine your future high street. This installation captured the existing ‘slow street’ initiatives in the city of Arnhem, mapped by Ruimtekoers. Visitors could interact with the living sculpture to leave their ideas and inspirations throughout the biennale. The promenades of the modular section into the street will encourage further interaction.

More information about Promenade on Slow Street can be found here.

The Whataboutery programme is a series of intimate talks, discussions and opportunities to interact with the artists participating in State of Fashion 2022 | Ways of Caring. How can we make fashion more inclusive? How can we make recovery more accessible to all? How can we redesign the industry, and our shopping streets? What about creating spaces for collaboration and co-creation? What about gender, race, the centuries of colonialism that have done and continue to do untold damage to indigenous communities and their lands?

More information about the Whataboutery programme can be found here.

Walkaboutery series
During State of Fashion Biennale 2022, regular Walkaboutery tours were organised to explore the ecological, social and emotional impact of our clothing.

More information about the Walkaboutery tours can be found here.

During the State of Fashion Biennale 2022, the Recovery Garden was a place where we could reconnect our clothes with nature. Here you could relax and experience the healing effect of planting seeds and watching them grow. You could enjoy the alchemy that took place in transforming flowers, herbs and leaves into colours to make natural dyes for textiles.

More information about the Recovery Garden can be found here.

For Ways of Caring Fashion Open Studio presented the work of four designers in residence. They each create individual site-specific projects that both celebrate and invite the Arnhem community to participate.

All designers shared their creativity, brought their studio and shared their experience as makers. Duran Lantink from the Netherlands, Tom Van der Borght from Belgium, Toton Januar from Indonesia and Sindiso Khumalo from South Africa show how design and creativity can be a source of joy and beauty and at the same time provide social and environmental solutions.

More information about Fashion Open Studio: Designers in Residence can be found here.

Through this Walk-in Wardrobes we wanted to research systems of civic ownership by using existing exchange, trade-in and clothing library systems to test different methods of non-monetary exchange of clothing. We start with the question: what if we do not see clothes as something we buy and own, but as something we take care of until the next person who cares? These wardrobes celebrated clothes as milestones of lives lived and placed them in the transition from one wearer to the next, each building on their ongoing story.

More information about the Walk-in Wardrobes can be found here.

The conference ‘Ways of Caring - Practicing Solidarity’ explored how to practice solidarity in fashion. In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, we’ve heard many calls for solidarity, a more solidary fashion industry and more solidary practices of making and wearing. Curious fashion professionals and creative practitioners from around the world were invited to join a 48-hour hybrid conference to developed deeper knowledge on the topic - beyond the boundaries of the fashion discipline. Through interactive presentations, talks, lectures, demonstrations and workshops you tuned in with relevant thinkers, create with inspiring makers, and interact with like-minded fashion practitioners. Together, we worked towards a more solidary fashion system.

More information about the conference 'Ways of Caring - Practicing Solidarity'

LOVE.JOY.NOW was the theme of the opening night party on 2 June (20:00-02:00) curated by artist and designer Bas Kosters. Bas was invited by State of Fashion and the curatorial teams of NOT____ENOUGH collective and Fashion Open Studio to embody this year’s theme in a festive and joyful way. Visitors were invited to play and connect on a lighthearted and upbeat disco party. Inclusivity, consciousness and individuality were key; so let’s spend the night together.

More information about LOVE.JOY.NOW can be found here.

Whataboutery 'Exercising Compassion'

The Whataboutery 'Exercising Compassion' was a substantive and moderated conversation about the value of collectives in the fashion and art industry, the importance of the community in making changes happen and making way for other voices. The theme ‘Exercising compassion’ was a call to care for the suffering of others, willing to take joint action and improve for the future. Both speakers use their work to make other voices visible and strive for equality. They do this collectively. The talk focuses on the importance of their work and the many ways they try to make a difference. How is their experience so far? How is their work received and what did they learn so far?

More information about Whataboutery 'Exercising Compassion' can be found here.

Did you miss State of Fashion 2022 in Arnhem?
Then check out our digital Visitor's Guide now. It tells you more about the five programme components of the State of Fashion Biennale 2022 | Ways of Caring, and about all the participants, activities and workshops.

The Visitor's Guide can be viewed online free of charge, in Dutch and in English.