The project is a research-pedagogical initiative in which students explore how worn-out work clothes can be transformed into new textile and spatial structures through reuse. The clothes, marked by traces of work, time and use, are torn, cut into strips and rewoven into large-scale textile surfaces.
The process is based on slow manual work – tearing, cutting, assembling and weaving – through which the material gradually loses its original function and acquires a new form, meaning and spatial role. Initial small-scale experiments and spatial studies explore the relationships between material, weaving rhythm, colour, body and space.
As the work develops into larger spatial installations, weaving extends beyond its traditional role and becomes a tool for creating soft architectures and textile landscapes. The exhibition raises questions of sustainability, work, material memory and the circulation of materials. The worn-out clothing does not entirely lose its past: traces of previous use remain present in the new structures, establishing a dialogue between the material’s former function and its new life.
Exhibition as part of Modnovanje 2026
The project PO UPORABI (2026) is exhibited as part of Modnovanje 2026 and is on display in the Drawing Room at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering until October 5, 2026.
Student authors
Hana Ademi, Samanta Bergoč, Čarna Berk, Hana Birsa, Ema Cunder, Ana Černetič, Katarina Debevec, Una Dopuđ, Nada Filipič, Iryna Ivanova, Tea Kobe, Lana Kovačević, Nina Mašera Lisjak, Lejla Lamija Mešanović, Lucija Novak, Ivana Orceva, Janž Rener, Maruša Sedovnik, Eva Sonc, Oja Mineja Šmid, Iza Teršek, Saira Veladžić
Mentorship and support
Authors, mentors: Assoc. Prof. Katja Burger Kovič, M.A. Tjaša Bavcon
Professional associates: Nina Glavič, Mojca Košir
Donation of textile material: Zavod Jazon and Lindström Slovenija
You can see more photos at KOTOfolio – PO UPORABI.
