In Bologna, Caterina Crepax's paper sculpture dresses under the banner of sustainability

From December 2, 2021 to January 30, 2022, the Fashion Research Italy Foundation in Bologna will host Caterina Crepax ’s exhibition entitled The Kindness of Paper. Sustainability is Beauty to draw attention to the theme of sustainability. Eighteen sculpture dresses with numerous patterns from the textile design archive of the Foundation established in 2015 are on display.

The exhibition presents the artist’smultifaceted and dreamlike imagery, proposing a reflection against waste: paper can in fact always become something else. Dreams, the beauty of nature, the oriental world and its decorativisms, classical mythology; and again, translucent wings of insects, pistils of flowers, wrought iron curls, inlays of old floors, skyscrapers, rocks, clouds, leaves, shells, city maps. The clothes are modeled on Bonaveri’s mannequins from renewable and biodegradable source material and made of paper produced from 100 percent recycled fiber by the historic Cordenons paper mill.

In fact, the passion of Caterina Crepax, daughter of the famous cartoonist Guido, has always been paper, which, thanks to the imagination and manual skills she inherited from her father, she manages to transform into real works of art.

The exhibition was born from the meeting between the artist and Foundation President Alberto Masotti, both of whom are sensitive to green issues, to celebrate the inauguration of Punto Sostenibilità: Italy’s most comprehensive archive, both physical and digital, of textile materials, accessories and sustainable packaging solutions for fashion. From recycled wool to regenerated silk, from biodegradable jersey to recycled aluminum complements, passing through the rediscovery of ancient yarns and weaves, the archive hosts the best of innovation, with materials and solutions already industrialized and immediately available for small or large-scale production.

“The theme of sustainability has always been central to my work,” says Crepax, “and recycled and reused paper is the material that more than others becomes a metaphor for the kindness we should use toward our planet. For this project I changed my usual creative approach, which normally conceives the final idea of the work, to make which I then look for papers of all kinds, from typographical scraps to old books to cake pans. On this occasion, however, the starting point was the magnificent Brandone Fund, and the challenge was to create clothes that would enhance the splendid graphics in the archive, mixing them to arrive at a harmony of colors and shapes: in a sense, for the first time I improvised myself, so to speak, as a stylist, an approach that stimulated and amused me greatly.”

“It has been many years since I read the first reports on the pollution produced by the fashion industry, but I still remember the bewilderment I felt,” explains Alberto Masotti. “The industry I worked in and loved so much was the second most polluting business in the world, and even today, unfortunately, the road to green evolution is long. It consoles me to see how the new generations are more attentive to these issues and feel the urgency. I hope the exhibition can make people think and convey a concept I deeply believe in: sustainability is beauty, it is an indispensable value and duty.”

The exhibition will include a full schedule of special openings of the Foundation’s spaces, which are not usually accessible to the public. All interested parties can visit by reservation (for info and presale www.mybologna.app/FFRI)

In Bologna, Caterina Crepax's paper sculpture dresses under the banner of sustainability

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