Menders in the Ethnographic Museum. Exhibition in the spirit of zero waste
This incredible exhibition serves both as a presentation of beautiful objects, an instruction how to save them and an eco-guide (the main principle: always try
This incredible exhibition serves both as a presentation of beautiful objects, an instruction how to save them and an eco-guide (the main principle: always try to repair items instead of throwing them out). Menders created by curators Olga Budzan and Marta Derejczyk will be available to visitors in the Ethnographic Museum until 30th January 2022.
Repairing our everyday world
The Japanese have not shed tears over cracked porcelain for centuries – instead, they put it back together using lacquer with gold. Kintsugi is one of the more precious arts, but Olga Budzan, the curator of Menders, proves that we do not have to spend money on real gold – all we need is gold acrylic paint combined with epoxy glue and our cracked dishes will look like new.
Results of the work done by the participants of museum workshops can be seen on the photograph above, and they will soon be available at the exhibition in the Ethnographic Museum.
But even today we can watch there, for example, Nikifor’s works painted on the reverse side of posters or packages, repaired pre-war wooden shoes from Bosnia and Herzegovina (there are also renovated modern shoes) or artistically mended socks. Not to mention the porcelain figure from Ćmielów that was rescued from the trash.
We do not waste – we save
In the past, people appreciated items because they were made of hardly accessible expensive materials or we could afford only few of them. However, it turns out that the grandma’s tutorial on sewing, mending, supplementing or lengthening or practical tips by Adam Słodowy, who taught Poles how to DIY well in a TV broadcast Zrób to sam [Do It Yourself] in Communist times when access to various goods was limited, are still valid. Just because we will not simply throw out a good branded blouse or sweater that we love. Recycling and upcycling is definitely better (even at home and in not fully professional conditions), and this is what the curators of the exhibition encourage us to do. We can prolong the life of things that are important to us and help our planet breathe. And we can be satisfied that we still wear or use our favourite items instead of discarding and wasting them.
Not to mention a higher level of induction: virtuoso menders (multitask hybrid objects will be available at the exhibition).
The entrance fee is 3–10 PLN. The exhibition is open on all days, excluding Monday.
