FASHION ON FILM AT THE TEXTILE MUSEUM
Image: Still from Made in Bangladesh (Rubaiyat Hossain, 2019)
Over at the George Washington University Museum, there's plenty for the textile enthusiast to enjoy. Housed within this wider institution, the Textile Museum is hosting a series of events, workshops, and exhibitions throughout July and August. With a virtual exploration of the global influences on Marimekko and an appreciation of the Jewish carpet already under their belt, the Museum is now offering Fashion on Film, a summer film series focused on sustainable fashion. On Thursday 28 July at 18:00 ET (Easter Time Zone), the award-winning Made in Bangladesh (Rubaiyat Hossain, 2019, 93 minutes) will be screened in the Museum.
Based on the life of Daliya Akter, the film follows a garment worker who escapes child marriage and goes on to lead a trade union fighting for workers' rights in the Bangladesh capital, Dhaka. Her story depicts the struggles and successes of ready-made-garment workers and explores how the industry in Bangladesh has helped to empower women, giving them socio-economic independence. Since its world premiere in 2019, Made in Bangladesh has garnered plaudits for best film and best director, as well as awards from the African Diaspora International Film Festival, the Amiens International Film Festival, the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, and the Festival International de Film Saint-Jean-de-Luz.
Image: Still from Made in Bangladesh (Rubaiyat Hossain, 2019)
The Museum's screening will be followed by a conversation with Rebecca Ballard and Allie Gardner from The Fashion Connection. Founded in 2021 to advance the U.S. sustainable fashion movement, TFC launched a Guide for Communication and Engagement at the intersection of human trafficking and fashion, and their new Resource Library offers key materials to U.S. sustainable fashion practitioners. Spaces are limited, so we'd advise you to register to secure your space.
If you miss out on a ticket this time, you can still enjoy the work of the current Cotsen Studio Artist-in-Residence, Ghiora Aharoni. Mining cultural artefacts and sacred texts, he decontextualises words, symbols, and objects to reconsider their narratives in contemporary culture. In this installation, Aharoni presents an alternative perspective to a peripheral Jewish edict that states that women’s voices are too seductive to be heard. Displayed alongside his selection of historical hats from the Cotsen Textile Traces Study Collection, Aharoni shows an embellished Yemenite Jewish wedding headdress symbolically celebrating and venerating women’s voices.
And then there's the rotating selection of more than 21,000 examples of handmade textile art representing five continents and five millennia from the museum collection, the 101 Gallery's ongoing interactive introduction to how textiles are made, as well as a chance to catch the next Fashion on Film screening on Thursday 25 August at 18:00 ET: The Next Black (House of Radon in collaboration with AEG, 2014, 47 minutes).
Image: Still from Made in Bangladesh (Rubaiyat Hossain, 2019)
Find out more at Fashion on Film