According to the World Economic Forum, 85% of all textiles go to the dump each year. Fashion production makes up 10% of humanity’s carbon emissions, and pollutes rivers, streams and oceans. This raises the questions: why buy new when we can renew?
Beauty What! is a collection of upcycled wearable art and design costumes created for the 2022 Art For Change 2022 Beauty WAD (Wearable Art and Design) Competition curated by Hanna Karin for the Members’ Gallery of the Alternator, on view from August 8 to 27, 2022.
Showcasing well-known and unknown designers from Canada and Myanmar, all of the submissions are made from repurposed fabric, natural fibres, packaging, and other discarded materials.
These entries exemplify the value-added potential of extending the lifespan of post-consumer waste. Trash becomes treasure, as a viable commodity and as a means to reduce our environmental footprint.
The entries also exemplify the incredible talent and ingenuity of trash artists. Inconsistencies that exist in unusual or weathered products mean costume preparation time is significantly longer than when starting with new materials. However, in the right hands, these irregularities create exciting potential for unique fashion and art, as demonstrated in this exhibit.
Beauty What! celebrates diversity in design and in designers. Marginalized artists from ChuChu and divergent artists from Cool Arts are represented side-by-side with their creative peers.
Beauty What! is part of the Art For Change exhibition — a series of five exhibits and three events that focus on using art and inclusive collaboration to create positive environmental change. Exhibits are located at the Rotary Centre for the Arts and at the Okanagan Heritage Museum. Find out more at artforchange.earth.
The artists featured include: Becky TenVeen from Summerland BC; Erica Bee from Kelowna, BC; Hanna Karin from Kelowna, BC; Hla Hla Yee from Dala, Myanmar; Julia Soleski from Kelowna, BC; Leslie Leong from Whitehorse, Yukon; Martha Ritchie from Haines Junction, Yukon; Ryan Williams from Kelowna, BC; Sen Sen from Dala, Myanmar; Sustainable Rave from Kelowna, BC; Trish Chung from 100 Mile House, BC.
For more information about Art for Change visit their website or follow them on Instagram and Facebook.
