State of Fashion is launching an Open Call for Curators for its 2026 Biennale, taking place in Arnhem, The Netherlands. We’re looking for visionary thinkers and makers with an outspoken view on the challenges the world faces at the moment, the necessity for fundamental change, and the role that fashion has in the ability to transform and reframe social and cultural contexts. Our leading question is: how can fashion & textile contribute to a better world?
THE OPEN CALL
For our fourth edition, State of Fashion asks prospective curators to build upon the main outcomes from our previous editions. Our goal is to focus on collaborative and collective action, where the global is connected to the local. We urge the curators to respond to the themes from an intersectional approach.
We invite the new curators to ….
→ unpack the politics of dress
→ forge community
→ honour unseen labour(s)
→ move beyond the binary
→ amplify voices from the global majority
The above mentioned thematic Calls to Action serve as food for thought, not as a fixed framework.
As a platform we continuously research the format of the Biennale and therefore entrust the new curators to challenge and reinterpret ways of presenting and programming their proposal, beyond the format of the exhibition. Examples could be a commission based approach where makers get the chance to create new work.
Furthermore, the emphasis is often on the end result, we actively want to make space for the work in process.
ABOUT STATE OF FASHION
State of Fashion is recognised as a pioneering platform that explores urgently needed radical change in fashion. Since its conception in 2017, State of Fashion has robustly addressed the environmental as well as the social footprint of the fashion industry, while uncovering new materials and production techniques. This framework was also the primary focus of its successful 2018 Biennale ‘Searching for the New Luxury’, curated by José Teunissen.
In 2020-2021, State of Fashion reflected with This is an Intervention on the current state of fashion, as well as redefining its own position as a platform. A diverse group of thinkers and makers from all over the world claimed the platform for eight months and unravelled the problems in the industrial fashion system, our role and the devastating effects on the earth and its inhabitants. It also became clear that – to ensure true diversity, equity and inclusiveness – a critical look and rigorous change is needed in the way the fashion system as a whole is organised. A radical approach is needed that tackles the problem at its roots. But where to start?
With This is an Intervention, State of Fashion set the course for the second edition of the Biennale in 2022.
The starting point for the Open Call for Curators for the 2022 Biennale consisted of three key questions that touch on the themes of Humanity, Equity and Community. The questions served as an open invitation for a discussion with the curatorial team of the 2022 Biennale, which covered the following topics; How can fashion contribute to a world that is more humane, a world in which agency & ownership becomes a shared responsibility with the core values of cooperation, balance and harmony? How do we ensure that we reflect critically on our activities and practice and how do we create a sustainable knowledge sharing system?
The selected curator team, consisting of Fashion Open Studio and NOT___ENOUGH Collective developed the central theme Ways of Caring. The State of Fashion Biennale looked for opportunities to make the fashion industry more sustainable and caring. Within 7 programme components more than 70 designers, artists and makers, from all over the world, worked on the broken relationship between the production of fashion and the wearer for 5 weeks. In addition to an exhibition, State of Fashion 2022 included 85 activities at 5 locations in the centre of Arnhem, the Dutch city of sustainable fashion. Every day the range of activities was different, interactive and created together by makers and visitors.
The main outcomes and findings of Ways of Caring served as inspiration and starting point for the 2024 Biennale. In 2022 we opened the new Open Call for Curators, asking the new prospective curators to actively challenge prevailing perspectives and make room for untold stories and experiences remained an important goal. But can we define the unequal power relations between the dominant Global North and the Global South and how can we share and disseminate non-western knowledge? Could the concept of the ‘exhibition’ be challenged and enriched so that it invites and inspires the visitor? We called upon the new curator (-team) to provide direction and shape a vision for new forms of presentation.
SELECTION CRITERIA
– Connection to the calls to action.
How well does the proposal relate to the call to action?
– Relevance and critical consistency of the proposed outline.
– Distinctive quality. Is it an inspiring new concept and as such an interesting and inspirational addition to State of Fashion?
– Interdisciplinarity. To what extent does the proposal incorporate collaborative and interdisciplinary elements?
– Outreach. What is the proposal’s capacity to reach and influence the intended audience?
– Impact. How does the proposal impact the intended target audience? And how does it create engagement?
– Diversity & Inclusivity. Does the proposal represent diverse perspectives and a pluralistic worldview?
PROFILE
With the Open Call for Curators, State of Fashion is looking for curatorial proposals that respond to one or more of the key questions, and for curators that:
– Have a critical and outspoken view on the urgencies of our time, the necessity for fundamental change, and the role that fashion can play in this transition.
– Are able to look at fashion through a pluriversal lens.
– Have a proven collaborative spirit and working method.
– Are eager to reimagine the form and/or behaviour of a biennale.
– Bring in a stimulating network of collaborators from inside and outside of fashion practice.
HOW TO APPLY?
Your application must include the following documents:
– a Curatorial Proposal (in PDF, max. 3 A4 pages),
– a Motivation Letter (in PDF, max. 1 A4 page)
– and a Curriculum Vitae and/or portfolio (in PDF, max. 2 A4 pages per CV).
The Application Form for the Open Call for Curators will follow as soon as possible.
TIMELINE
19 January 2025
Deadline for submitting applications.
19 January – 19 March 2025
Selection Procedure.
State of Fashion will inform the participants about the pre-selection by 28 February 2025
24-28 March 2025
Prospective dates for Interviews selected candidates.
April 2025
Announcement curatorial team 2026 at the end of March
June 2025
Launch event theme Biennale 2026.
May / June 2026
Opening State of Fashion Biennale 2026.