YOU DON’T NEED A WEATHERMAN TO KNOW WHICH WAY THE WIND BLOWS
YOU DON’T NEED A WEATHERMAN TO KNOW WHICH WAY THE WIND BLOWS
Credo Bonum Gallery presents:
YOU DON’T NEED A WEATHERMAN TO KNOW WHICH WAY THE WIND BLOWS
Official opening: 16 November, 18:00 hrs.
Exhibition dates: 16.11 – 7.12.2023
Credo Bonum Gallery
2 Slavyanska St., 1000 Sofia
Participants: Nevena Ekimova (Bulgaria), Koko Krastev (Bulgaria), Aiko Yamamoto (Japan)
Visual identity and design: Studio FRANK
Credo Box: Nevena Ekimova
16.11 – 27.12.2023
Accompanying events
18 November | 11:00 hrs.
Workshop with Aiko Yamamoto
*With prior registration
23 November | 6:00 PM hrs.
The wardrobe crisis and how it affects the world?
Discussion with the participation of representatives of
Answear.bg, Remix, FREA, Fashion Days, H&M and others.
Credo Bonum Foundation and Gallery are launching a series of exhibitions and events dedicated to climate change that will introduce the public to possible solutions and build partnerships between businesses and artists, with the goal of a more sustainable future and changing attitudes.
The series of events is called “You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows”, a quote from the song Subterranean Homesick Blues by Bob Dylan, and the first exhibition draws attention to fast and ultra-fast fashion and its environmental footprint.
We consume – and we do it all the time. The advent of fast fashion has made clothes cheaper and more accessible, but at a huge environmental cost. Fashion trend cycles have also become shorter; shopping, often online, has gone from a necessity to a hobby and then an obsession. We just can’t stop. Few people realize what is behind this modern commercial phenomenon. Behind it lie questions about the huge environmental footprint, about the lack of sustainability, about labor exploitation, and many more, for which we need new policies in the future. At the same time, clothes dress us, but they also give us individuality and identity; they are an important part of our life that we can’t simply give up. Turning to art, within an exhibition process between artists, visual artists and researchers, we will try to look at how textiles divide us, unite us and move us forward – all at the same time. We will trace the thread between human life, work and business and the natural world and our surrounding environment.
Fashion industry and cheap clothes are a huge contributor to the climate and environmental crisis. To make just one cotton T-shirt, about 2,700 liters of fresh water are needed – that’s the amount of drinking water a person consumes in two and a half years. The fashion industry is thought to be responsible for 10% of global carbon emissions – more than international flights and maritime shipping combined – according to the European Environment Agency. Every year, Europeans use almost 26 kg and throw away about 11 kg of textiles (source)
In this exhibition, we look at the current state of affairs and the rapid consumption in the age of consumer fetishism. The artist Nevena Ekimova will partner with the company for collecting and recycling unneeded clothes – TexCycle. She will use recycled textiles from the company’s production to create in the gallery space an installation environment of fabrics, a kind of cocoon and an agora for the events accompanying the exhibition. Since 2018, the Bulgarian brand TexCycle has collected over 6,000 tons of textile waste in its specialized containers throughout the country.
The Japanese Aiko Yamamoto, who will visit Bulgaria for the first time with the support of the Nomura Foundation, will create an installation of fabrics dyed with herbs from the Vitosha Mountain and will draw attention to the feminized profession of silk production in a silk factory in Japan. Fashion photographer Koko Krastev will explore the tailor studios in Sofia, as a kind of counterpoint to fast fashion, with the repair of clothes and the extension of their life.
Fast fashion
Today, the world consumes about 80 billion tons of new clothes every year. That’s 400% more than the amount we consumed just two decades ago. The time between when a fashion trend hits the pavement and when it is first seen in the media or on the catwalks has shrunk to a few days, and maybe hours by the time you read this. Fast fashion can be defined as cheap but trendy clothing that steals ideas from celebrity culture or catwalks and transforms them into massively sought-after clothing. With the emergence of brands like Shein, we are already talking about ultra-fast fashion.
The project is implemented with the support of the National Culture Fund and in partnership with the Bulgarian American Credit Bank, TexCycle and the Nomura Foundation, Japan.
