Mapping Motifs: An exploratory journey through fashion, cities and identities

While most fashion exhibitions are about chronologic and thematic presentation of clothes, fashion as a subject for the exploration of visual art practice has been little undertaken. This artist exhibition broadens the scope of visual-arts practice by situating fashion as a core practice. This project explores the relations of fashion, cities and identities through a Chinese dress -the cheongsam. The cheongsam is not only central to the construction of Chinese identities, but also a popular inspiration for fashion designers from various cites. These fashion designers promote their interpretation of the cheongsam, lifting its Chinese origin for their affiliated city yet also assigning new identities to the dress. Through an interactive installation of 6 identical cheongsams each representing a different city, Mapping Motifs questions the identities of the cheongsam and their relation to fashion cities. The project comprised an exhibition and two seminars. It engages audiences with or without a fashion and or visual art background and allows them to experience fashion through the form of visual arts.