Nomadic Dresses ~ Mariana Frochtengarten

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The Nomadic Dresses project, the art exhibit associated with the Thing Theory Session at TAG, is a project that structures my research on the material culture of clothing with contemporary issues in craft and visual arts. The project emphasizes collective aesthetic experiences as fundamental contributors to the construction of social interactions. In this context, material culture not only reflects society, but also configures particular systems of exchange and reciprocity within relationships and affections.

The exhibit has its origin in my studio practice and then unfolds with other artists, both men and women, who were invited to help produce a collaborative artwork. I send out, by regular mail, five plain white dresses to five groups of artists. With different themes – The Voyage, The House, The Gift, The Feast and The Ritual, each contributor has been invited to work freely on the garment he/she has chosen. A communication network was constructed through these dresses, letters, and other exchanges to include sixteen artists from eleven countries: Brazil, Canada, United States, Trinidad and Tobago, China, Nigeria, South Africa, Australia, Spain, India and Pakistan.