Cut from the same cloth explored recycling it as a metaphor for the power of reinvention. It included a swap/installation/live event at M7 (Abdullah Bin Thani St, Msheireb). During the event, all clothes were given away, those left were mechanically recycled.
The project team collected used clothes from our communities, used them as the basis of an installation for the live event, and interacted with the public during the event. Afterwards, the clothes were donated, re-used or recycled as part of an exciting garment-to-garment recycling programme.
Concept statement:
What does it mean to recycle something?
Recycling is a form of reinvention, of giving new life to something, or extending its life, of changing it to become a new version of what it was.
Cut from the same cloth is an exploration of these ideas. It is a conversation about recycling and reinvention, of the clothes we wear, and of ourselves.
One of the most efficient and human ways of recycling a garment is to give it to someone else who will wear it. In Qatar there is no better example than the bisht, a traditional men’s cloak that has been worn for thousands of years. The finest are made from camel's hair and goat wool. The bisht is sometimes handed down from father to son.
“I feel my bisht is an extension of me.”
Garments begin as textiles which, in turn, began as cotton from the fields, or wool from livestock or chemical compounds. These materials are spun into yarn or thread, then knit or woven into textiles. Old garments can be given away, re-fashioned, or used for a new purpose such as stuffing, or rags. They can also be shredded, turned back into fibre or plastic and then re-spun into ‘new’ yarn, closing the loop, making the process circular.
Our lives also have cycles.
Reinvention is a very human act. To change as we grow, sometimes to be unrecognisable in relation to our former selves, is part of what makes us human. It is a superpower.
“We start life as children, but most of us will become parents. We are students, but many of us will become teachers.”
Cut from the same cloth was a collaboration of students, designers, teachers, artists, thinkers who came together to collect used clothes from the community, and to think about reinvention. The installation was made as a provocation; all the garments were donated, reused or mechanically recycled into ‘new’ textile after the event.
The planet friendly abaya is one of the outcomes of a project, initiated in 2023, called Cut from the same cloth. One special abaya has been designed and stitched by The Cutting Studio using a textile made from recycled clothes as part of Up to us, at the 2024 Qatar UK Festival.
In addition, a collection of affordable abayas, made from responsible textiles, and marketed as part of Re/DRESS, a responsible fashion brand, are available for sale at Studio 7, the concept store located at M7, Qatar's design hub, located in Msheireb, Downtown Doha.
Here's the story:
Used clothes were donated in Qatar in collaboration with M7 as part of the Cut from the same cloth community project featured at British Council's 2023 Qatar UK Festival. Next, the clothes were cut into scraps, mechanically recycled, spun into yarn and woven into textile as part of a garment recycling pilot project in Bangladesh. Finally, the recycled textile was made into a brand new abaya by the Cutting Studio in Qatar (designed by Nicole Gramcko) featuring the Qataf, the national flower of Qatar.
The idea grew form conversations about values and clothing. An abaya is three metres of cloth that has a cultural and spiritual meaning. As a visible symbol of the wearers’ values... could it also make a statement about a commitment to sustainability? What if there was an affordable, every-day abaya made from responsible textile?
This research and process-based art/design project is a practical initiative to produce and bring to the market an abaya using responsible textiles and methods. Through the project, the cultural significance of the abaya has also been explored, resulting in lens/sound work about the clothing choices we make.