Concept and Production by Vivienne Challandes
Castaways: Art From the Material World is a rags to riches tale of the textile industry and its global impact. Featuring twenty women artists from Canada and the Americas, this immersive exhibition confronts climate change head on, exploring consumer culture and our relationship to fast fashion. Castaways is the story of a planet in crisis, told from uniquely female and indigenous perspectives.
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As storytelling begins… Once upon a time, in a destination no one talks about, was an endless sea of unwanted clothing and textiles. In Castaways: Art From the Material World, society’s undesirables present a 100% recycled, dynamic combination of visual art and mixed media that ask the viewer to revisit the worthless – including individuals, animals and places that have become abandoned. As in the artwork of Robert Bateman, Castaways’ artists communicate from the frontlines of an endangered natural world, prompting meaningful public dialogue to reach a promising future.
Artist and producer, Vivienne Challandes, presents climate change-related issues in a passionate, open-ended framework to invite participation and collaborations that foster social change. “Castaways artists were asked to face the destructive chaos of the garment industry and corporate greed. No small ask. Fortunately, when highly creative people are encouraged to create brave work and commit to revolutionary thinking – the extraordinary happens”.
At the end of the Castaways story – you decide how the future is fashioned.
Handmade pieces by the Castaways artists, all crafted from recycled materials, are available to buy in the Gallery of Nature Gift Shop.