I have found a real gem! The Westfries Museum in Hoorn has curated an exhibition Time in Fashion, which does not so much account for the history of fashion but shows it as a fascinating phenomenon that strongly influences our vision of the past, our consumer choices and is an inexhaustible source of inspiration for theatre and film costume design. https://westfriesmuseum.nl/time-in-fashion/
Time in Fashion features the works of three artists who share an interest in historical dress. They creatively combine period costumes with traditional materials and crafts from other cultures. The work of all three is extremely precise and time consuming, which can be read as a statement against the fast fashion, both socially and environmentally harmful.
Rien Bekkers is one of the most prominent theatre costume designers in the Netherlands. He has prepared costumes for almost 150 theatre, ballet and opera productions. His designs cross the boundaries between past and present, using crafts and materials from different cultures. In addition to full-scale costumes, he also creates costumes in miniature, presented on 1-metre-high effigies. 45 of these can be seen in the exhibition in Hoorn, including objects inspired by 17th and 18th century men’s fashion, Shakespeare’s dramas, the traditional costumes of India, Indonesia and Africa.
I was very impressed with Bekker’s work inspired by a family portrait of Dirk Jacobsz Bas, deputy mayor of Amsterdam and one of the founders of the VOC (East India Company), his wife Margita Snoecks and their children. The portrait was painted in 1635 by Dirck Dircksz van Santvoort. Bekkers created miniatures of the portrayed individuals in faithfully reproduced costumes, made with unconventional materials sourced from Indonesia. The women’s costumes are made of banana paper and the men’s are made of bark cloth.
Interestingly, Bekkers finds historical costumes boring as such. It is only, he says, when they are combined with crafts and materials from another region of the world and another era that they become timeless. However, he very faithfully preserves their historical form, so that they believably tell stories on stage and build up the stage characters.
Asya Kozina creates her works with white paper, and she is fascinated with the ambiguity of her material. She says: it’s cheap but can produce durable objects, it does not look strong but is suitable for making complex sculptures. As a Ukrainian she often draws from the Ukrainian folk art but also from other folk traditions worldwide. She as well loves historical fashion. Her Mozart Project (2022) includes paper baroque wigs referring to the flamboyant hair fashion around 1770 and they allude to Mozart by displaying tiny paper musical instruments like violin or pianola keyboard.
Others seem to be in humorous conversation with their historical counterparts, like the one with the silhouette of a plane incorporated in the sumptuous head arrangement recalls the famous 1778 ship wig design commemorating the victory of French frigate an English one.
On a more serious note, in 2023 Asya completed her work Religion of Death. A beautiful paper composition driven by the artist’s emotions evoked by Russia’s attack on her homeland, Ukraine. It is a woman’s head with richly ornamented headwear. Decorative motifs from traditional Indonesian and Mexican art refer to the symbolism of death.
Sepehr Maghsoudi was born in Iran and brought up in the Netherlands. In the haute couture circles he is known as a visionary of fashion who successfully combines modern form with traditional Persian textile crafts. His designs are much more than just outfits. They are artworks that can convey a story and arouse emotions.
Collection TIME included in the exhibition is his 25th one. With white, blue and red it makes a strong visual statement. It is very personal, inspired by the designer’s own experience as an asylum seeker. It touches on the themes of personal growth, self-acceptance and importance of an ongoing, open intercultural dialog.
The final accent of the exhibition is Maghsoudi’s three masterpieces. A long black dress from his Father & Son collection symbolizing strong inter generation ties (2021) is paired with white gown from Scream under Water collection (2017) combining Persian glamour with innovative techniques. In the same room there is his mirror installation Atmosphere (2019). An improvised chamber with mirror walls pays tribute to the Persian architecture, with its preference for geometry and illusions of infinity. The installation provides the visitors with unique experience of seeing one’s reflection multiplied in various dimensions and angles.
The exhibition will be open until 2nd June 2025. After this date the Westfries Museum will close for major renovation.