Programme 

• 19:00: Doors open
• 19:30:  Start programme
  • Introduction by VOX-POP Student Programme Team 
  • Roundtable talk on sustainable fashion, mending and community with designer Emma Fukuwatari Huffman and Cloud from Modestraat
• 20:15-21:30: Workshop: Boro Stitching with Emma Fukuwatari Huffman 
• 21:30-22:00: Drinks 

Stitching Together: Building Community through Sustainable Fashion 

In a capitalist world of fast fashion and mass consumption, acts of repair can be radical acts of care. The clothes we wear often have their own stories to tell: from cultural histories to teenage memories, garments that we once inherited, borrowed or dreamt of owning. As more clothing continues to be thrown away than ever before, how can we reconnect with our wardrobes and show more care to the planet and one another? Rather than feeling the constant pressure to buy more and wear more, how can we embrace mending and repair, building meaningful connections as we go? 

From ancient Egypt to Edo-period Japan, the art of mending has a long and rich cultural history across the world. In recent years, mending has become an important part of the sustainable fashion movement, for its open creativity and accessibility to all. This year’s Student Programme Team at VOX-POP have decided to delve deeper into the subject for our second CLOSE-UP- Stitching Together: Building Community through Sustainable Fashion. During the evening programme, we will host a roundtable about the potentialities of fashion, mending, and community, hearing from different artistic, cultural, and academic perspectives. 

After the roundtable, Japanese-American artist and mender Emma Fukuwatari Huffman will host a Boro Stitching workshop, where participants can learn more about visible mending,  and the various tips and tricks they need to get started with their own practice! Make sure to register and come join us at this second CLOSE-UP evening on February 15 at VOX-POP! 

Practical information

• What? CLOSE UP #2: Stitching Together: Building Community Through Sustainable Fashion 
• When? Thursday 15 February, 19:00 walk-in, programme 19:30-22:00 
• Where? VOX-POP, Binnengasthuisstraat 9, 1012 ZA, Amsterdam
• Costs? Free! Register at the link below to reserve your spot now!

Contributors

Cloud Meijer (she/her) is a volunteer at Modestraat. Modestraat is not only an artistic breeding ground and meeting place, but also a neighborhood lab that combines art and social initiatives. Cloud has a great affinity with social projects. So has she, for example, taught about mental health, been a youth ambassador for Amnesty NL and helped with many events for the Modestraat. Now she can mainly be found in the exchange boutique at Modestraat, where residents of Amsterdam-Noord exchange or donate their clothing.

Emma Fukuwatari Huffman (she/her) is a Japanese-American designer based in the Netherlands. She believes mending is an act of both care and rebellion much needed in this day and age and hopes to expand and challenge its meaning. With her love for story-telling, mending and making, Emma researches new ways to care for our belongings, and the Earth through making together with multispecies and imagining Alternative Realities. She graduated with a master's in Speculative Design from the Kyoto Institute of Technology with her project “Mending with Mycelium” which explored the possibilities of mending in collaboration with multispecies.

Jane Tynan is a cultural historian and graduate of Ulster University and University College Dublin. Her PhD, from the University of the Arts London, examined the significance of military uniform for the cultural legacy of the First World War. She came to Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in 2020 from Central Saint Martins in London, where she taught history and theory of design and developed the MA Fashion Critical Studies. She now leads the MA Design Cultures program at the VU and teaches on the BA MKDA Design track. Her research is at the intersection of history, fashion and politics. Clothing practices and technologies, according to Jane Tynan, are crucial for the formation of individual and collective identities. Tynan is interested in the body (and its history) as a way to understand the limits of power, citizenship, governance and public trust.

CLOSE UP Series

VOX-POP's programming is co-hosted by an annually changing group of talented students. Every 6-8 weeks they organize a 'CLOSE UP' evenings in which a social issue is examined by academics, professionals and artists. This year's brand new student programmers are eager to provide you with surprising programs where we dive into interesting topics together. 

Our student program makers

Every year, a group of talented students join their forces together at VOX-POP. Through a talent development program, they gain experience as cultural program makers. They learn to curate and produce a program, from editing to production. The 2023-2024 program team consists of Fern, Tessel, Miles, Sara and Pati!