The idea for a collaboration between fashion designers and photographers centered on the theme of mindfulness emerged in the context of the 2019 eco-initiatives. Nine fashion designers and nine photographers from Omsk participated in the exhibition project. Today, living in a world of fast fashion and overconsumption, it is vital to take a step toward our authentic selves. We seek ourselves in the context of universal human values and in harmony with nature. The project compels us to pause and consider whether the beautiful fashion images we create daily stem from the natural beauty and inner energy within ourselves. It is time to be inspired to change.
Designer apparel has its own history: each designer has considered sustainable fashion and rationality by upcycling garments into their collections.
The theme of the relationship between landscape and humanity, with a turn toward the aesthetics of the «Rococo» style, was selected by the project curator, V. Melnichenko—a photographer and artist—for the photographers.
The natural quality in the photographs alludes to the 18th century. Perhaps fashion doesn’t even exist? The answer to this question each person can find within themselves by considering their choices as they make them. The acquisition of goods is becoming increasingly conscious. «But the first step on this path must be for each person to recognize the uniqueness of their own life—to love and care for it.» This is the essence of the project, «RETURN TO SELF.»
The project «RETURN TO SELF» was presented at MEGA Shopping Center (Omsk) in the fall of 2020, and the continuation took place at the M. A. Vrubel Regional Museum of Fine Arts in 2021.
Idea author and project curators: Emma Vasilyeva, Svetlana Kashuba, Vasily Melnichenko. Costumes provided by the Omsk Design School and Omsk State Technical University (OmGTU). The project took place with the support of MEGA Mall, the Omsk Art Residency, and OmGTU.