Camilio

Ashes to Ashes

Second hands clothes from DAPP (Development Aid from People to People), Lilongwe Malawi. Well-meant second hand clothing shipped to Africa, destroying local textile industries and local entrepreneurs. Mismanaged on site (DAPP stores over Malawi) also had its part in this bankruptcy. 

The Western Fashion (clothing) industry sponsors this funny and shady trade (and Western people supporting it): in The West they think it is donated, in Zambia and Malawi it is sold, a part of it by DAPP, turning it in a donation again. And hence the pollution of the fashion industry, all the water spillage (growing cotton, washing, dyeing, washing) and Co2 exhaust by the transport, child-labour in other 3rd world countries to make it affordable in the West, so we can, after wearing it for a short period (give) it away (and feel so good) to “Africa” (like our old polluting cars). With all these second hands clothing, Zambian and Malawian traditional clothing and / or clothing styles that would evolve with the lack of these (not so) old (not worn out (so not efficient and supporting the clothing industry) clothes, is very much disrupted and vanished. Besides this latter point, this way of the selling 2nd hand cheap clothes has also destroyed the textile industry in Zambia and Malawi, because local produced clothing is still more expansive than these 2nd hands clothing from The West.

As my thoughts where at the time of creating: ‘this system let us all go to hell’, I performed with these forms in nature, holding them up in my white suit (clown / court jester / village fool, The White Western Man) and ending with smashing ashes around, ashes from pervious burned art works.