Communitism
In this series, we ask i-Portunus Houses participants to tell us their stories and experiences. At the end of each story, we invite you to reflect with us on important themes about mobility in the arts and civil society.
One Camelbut-Two Camelbutt-Three Camelbutt
Butterflies & Camels is a workshop rooted in Communitism, devoted to the creative reuse of discarded clothes through horizontal knowledge exchange practices. After the Covid hiatus, the three artists running the workshop decided to organize the project “Camelbutts Reloaded 2022” to reactivate the workshop. They invited fabric upcycle artists Sophia Wameling, Christos Kyriakides and Max Allen in Athens for 10 days to hold three workshops each, sharing their practices with the workshop participants. In the weeks between the residencies, local artists Angel Torticollis, Grigoria Vryttia, Dida Dourida and Ioanna Bouzika shared their own practices through workshops they held. The curriculum involved workshops on upcycling design, fabric painting, artistic jewellery, embroidery, creative accessory, hand-fan, and costume fashion.
The workshops were followed by 36 participants, 15 of which attended recurring workshops. They created a series items, 18 of which reached a finished state. The vintage re-sellers collective Athene Vintage was invited to style the runway, bringing in a vibrant community of creatively edgy fashionistas to model. Scenography was set up by the in-house project Keramo Lab and a bazaar was organized on Communitism’s roof terrace.
The NOT-A-FASHION-SHOW entitled “Camelbutts Reloaded 2022” was opened by the dance collective “Some of us” and the talented dJ Grace guided the show. 10 models showcased 20 refashioned outfits in front of an audience of 250 persons. A celebrating mini party was the final act of the project. The resident artists became good friends and the Butterflies and Camels workshop has one new member. We have strengthened bonds with the Athene Vintage and the “Some of us” collectives and our network has been given more creative ways of expression. This project, compared to its 2019 pilot, up-scaled in professionalism yet still created space for radical self-expression and for our community to grow.
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Max Allen is invited as “One Camelbutt” in a series of co-creation workshops called “Camelbutts Reloaded”,organised by the fabric repurposing collective “Butterflies and Camels”. Max will share his methods and techniques for a week, with the participants of a 3 month process. He will cover a part of a co-creation curriculum, one of the 9 that will be introduced by a mixture of local and international artists . The workshop outcomes created will be showcased in a NOT-A-FASHION-SHOW runway in the sociocultural center of Communitism, a neoclassical building revived by a creative community in Athens
