We are pleased to announce that the first project of the new year will start in cooperation with Šejla Kamerić: THE PARTY IS OVER is an action in public spaces that reflects on social and environmental anxieties. It combines interventions and performances with photography and video works while reimagining what circular fashion model could be. With her action, Šejla Kamerić opens the artistic discourse on the topics of sustainability and the future handling of resources.
The public art action THE PARTY IS OVER (DIE PARTY IST VORBEI) critically addresses the ever-faster cycles of fast fashion that functions on a myth that used clothes will be, in some way, recycled. Global waste disposal streams operate as a system in which used clothes are cheaply sold or sent as an aid by the economically developed to the poorer countries. It is often either intentionally camouflaged or naïvely interpretated as a “gift”.
- * Since 1996, the amount of clothing bought per person in the EU has increased by 40% after prices have plummeted, shortening the lifespan of clothing.
- * Europeans consume almost 26 kilos of textiles every year and throw away about 11 kilos of them. Globally, less than 1% of clothing is recycled as garments.
- * Clothing causes the fourth largest environmental impact after housing, transport and food. The production of clothing and shoes causes more CO2 emissions than global shipping and air travel combined.
In addition to the Kunsthaus Dresden as the sponsor of the action, the Staatsschauspiel Dresden, the Sächsische Landesbibliothek – Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek (SLUB) and the Zentralbibliothek – Städtische Bibliotheken Dresden are places of presentation and partners for this art project.
For the public action THE PARTY IS OVER, different black and white items of clothes are chosen and bought on the final sales in second hand shops for less than 50p a piece just before they would end up as waste in landfills across the Balkans. Selected clothes are ‘branded’ with a massage ‘The Party is Over’ and smuggled back to the affluent European countries where they are offered for free in various public spaces (streets corners, public parks, theaters, libraries, exhibition spaces etc.) This part of the action is symbolic – return of the fashion waste to the countries from where clothes were discarded and exported as a “gift”.
Passers-by and visitors are invited to take the newly labelled clothes and wear them in public or in private. Šejla Kamerić will collect photos and videos of participants wearing, staging and sharing the clothes as part of a joint ongoing social media campaign: #thepartyisover2020s.
Statement of the artist Šejla Kamerić:
“We are all part of a broken system. We exploit, overproduce, overconsume, unreasonably discard, and destroy. We choose not to see the devastation we leave behind. But existential anxiety is real.
This participatory public action is an artwork that functions as a brand with a utopian idea. By distributing fashion and art for free, it goes against the commercial stream. Fashion waste is used as a symbol. The imprinted message is for us.
– The party is over!”
We invite you to take part in the action!
A download with a description of what to do and how to participate can be found below.
If you are interested in participating or have any questions, please contact us directly: kunsthaus@museen-dresden.de