Gorky Park is closed due to bad weather.
Author and presenter of the cycle, art historian and expert in fashion history Elena Eliseeva will explain the role of clothing in contemporary culture and the attitude to it in our everyday life.
Each session includes a lecture followed by discussion and practical block where the participants will create a graphic artwork and a collage using textiles.
The workshop will focus on the phenomenon of urban youth subcultures: the group will analyze what means representatives of such communities use in order to express themselves and create unique visual looks. Why is it so easy to distinguish between hippies, punks, or Goths in the streets? What paradigmatic ideas important for each subculture can be traced in their respective outfits and accessories? How do we read stereotypes inherent in the society’s perception thereof? During the workshop, the participants will develop a general visual vocabulary with a classification of contemporary urban subcultures, popular among high school pupils. They will also try to think of a totally new subculture of their own and create its look book using the technique of collage.
Uniform is a fantastic type of clothes, which is able to establish unity and equality within a given group of people, and for the first time we come across uniforms at school. Knowledge implies equality. As a bearer of this idea, school uniform has made long way since invention, and has its pros and cons. On the one hand, the same outfits worn for everyone discipline and help to develop community spirit and collective pride. On the other, they may suppress or fetter individuality. The listeners will discuss with the teachers, whether we still need school uniform today, as well as its benefits and disadvantages. Each participant will then have the opportunity to design their own ideal school uniform.
Clothes is one of the most striking and at the same time affordable ways of self-expression, and a wardrobe cannot be reduced to a collection of outfits—it is an entire arsenal of opportunities, using which one can show their authentic or imaginary personality, and attract likeminded companions. During the workshop, the group will discuss strategies of clothing selection popular in modern day youth fashion; to what extent the creation of one’s own image can be seen as a rational gesture; and how choosing outfits in a broader meaning, be it a dress, accessory or make-up—impacts people’s behavior and interaction with others. During the practical block, the participants will introduce the rest of the group with their look book collages and check whether their message is clear and easily understood.
