23 Sep 2016

WKV Stuttgart: Ines Doujak. Not Dressed For Conquering

Ines Doujak. Not Dressed For Conquering
October 15 - January 15, 2016

For the exhibition 'Ines Doujak. Not Dressed For Conquering', Württembergischer Kunstverein temporarily assumes the guise of a fashion store – to be precise, an assortment of various pop-up stores.
The show is based on the long-term Loomshuttles / Warpaths project by Austrian artist Ines Doujak (*1959) that, in different forms and formats, explores the links between textiles, fashion, colonialism, violence and globalized production conditions. It comprises Doujak's 'eccentric archive' that focuses on the history of globalization based on textiles from the Andean region; an open-ended series of sculptures, performances, writings and video works along with various, constantly evolving fashion collections.
The exhibition 'Not Dressed For Conquering' features a selection of all these elements, reorganizing and extending them. The focus is on eight fashion collections showcased in the specially designed pop-up stores, each following different themes and motifs. Among them, the fire of burning factories and the burnout – in the literal sense too – of low-wage workers, animal and human skins, carnival and masquerade, and the devil himself. Under scrutiny are the supply chains of global trade, tightly organized by means of barcodes, automated cranes, containers and mega ships, or the long history of degrading workers to the level of 'intelligent apes'.
The collections consist of fabrics in which the various themes and motifs are directly inscribed and of patterns, garments, outfits and accessories derived from them, but also of writings, publications, objects, videos and pieces of dance and music in which patterns are transformed and translated into motion and sound.
Employing the glamour of the fashion world, Doujak not only spotlights the exploitative structures, gender and class orders of haute couture and mass-market clothing. Harking back to the resistant, anarchistic practices of textile design ranging from Andean weaving traditions to Dapper Dan, the iconic New York tailor to the eighties' hip hop scene, she creates another, a different fashion that counteracts the status quo. This idea is also embodied by a group of 'looters' and 'rioters' who act as a kind of inverted gatekeeper at the various pop-up stores.
This other, resistant fashion again is the focal point of a number of performances and workshops taking place during the exhibition, combining tailoring, dance, music, film and politics.

Program:

Friday, October 14, 2016, 7 p.m.

OPENING

With Klub Mutti: Fashion Show

Fashion icon and 'it-girl' Mara Gheddon presents the current 'must-haves' of the season. She speaks about fashion and other circumstances. A Swabian in exile, she is interested in handicrafts and gender bending.


Saturday, October 15, 2016, 2–6 p.m.

WORKSHOP

'Re-clothed'

With Alessandro Marques, Pablo Lafuente
For this workshop, Marques and Lafuente will propose to explore, together with the participants, clothing that extends the body and connects it to other bodies. The four-hour workshop will involve the joint conception and construction of a series of outfits. On focus here is the collective process that includes also the engagement in a series of dance moves.

Alessandro Marques: Designer, São Paulo
Pablo Lafuente: Writer, teacher and curator, Porto Seguro, Bahia, São Paulo
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Language: English; Limited number of participants
Application required until October 10, 2016
Info + registration:
Barbara Mocko, mocko@wkv-stuttgart.de, Fon: +49 (0)711 - 22 33 713
Participation fee: 15 Euro; reduced and WKV members: 7,50 Euro


Saturday, October 15, 2016, 7 p.m.

PERFORMANCE

'What Inside Forms An Outside And What Is The Space In Between?'

With John Barker, Ornella de Bakel, Ines Doujak

What inside forms an outside and what is the space in between? We will talk of the substance ergot and one of its alkaloids LSD as freeing consciousness from neuro gatekeepers, of the skin as more than a container, and of disgust as an emotional and political barrier.

John Barker: Fiction writer, essayist, performer, political activist, Vienna, London
Ines Doujak: Artist, Vienna, London
Ornella de Bakel: Artist, dragqueen, Vienna
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Language: German, English


Thursday, November 24, 2016, 7 p.m.

PANEL DISCUSSION (in German language)

Burn Out. Deadly Fire. Four Years, No Justice

With Thomas Seibert (medicointernational), Miriam Saage-Maaß (ECCHR), a.o. In collaboration with Terre des Hommes


Saturday, November 26, 2016, 2– 5 p.m.

SEMINAR

'Lost and Found'

With John Barker, Ines Doujak, Evelyn Steinthaler

As a last resort, mothers in 18th century London who could not support their children hoped to win a place for them at the Foundling Hospital* determined by a lottery system. Instead of identity papers they left an individual piece of cloth. Now, parents in war zones have a similar hope for their children to find refuge in Europe. Too many disappear in the process despite the heavily monitored world in which we live. We would like you to join us to search individual fates of unaccompanied minors in a time of desperation and need, and examining the economics of desperation.

Evelyn Steinthaler: Writer, editor, producer, performer, translator, Vienna
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Language: German, English


Sunday, January 15, 2017, 6 p.m.

FINISSAGE + BOOK LAUNCH

'Eccentric Archive'

With John Barker, Ines Doujak a.o. Language: English


GUIDED TOURS

Curator's tours
Language: German

Wednesday, October 26, 2016, 7 p.m.
Wednesday, November 16, 2016, 7 p.m.
Wednesday, December 7, 2016, 7 p.m.
Sunday, January 15, 2017, 4:30 p.m.

Free guided tours
Language: German

Each sunday, 3 p.m.