Innovations in material design allow us to imagine bold visions of the future. Visions of a world where concrete walls can repair cracks in their structure on their own, where clothes are dyed with the help of bacteria without harmful chemicals, and where smart bandages on our skin provide updates on the healing process of wounds. One could go on and on with projects like these. The technological novelties showcased at numerous fairs and exhibitions often give us a false sense of security, based on faith in human genius and the unchanging trajectory of exponential technological progress. However, the reality, viewed from the perspective of the climate crisis and uncontrolled turbo-capitalism, paints a much darker picture. Despite numerous calls from the scientific community and grassroots social initiatives, we continue to live in a culture of surplus and waste, in which the economic value of most everyday products is extremely low. A good example of this is the fashion industry – according to UN data, it accounts for 10% of global carbon dioxide emissions. It is projected that global clothing consumption will increase by 63% in the next decade, from 62 million tons in 2019 to 102 million tons by 2030. This corresponds to more than 500 billion additional tops and T-shirts. Many of these clothes will end up in landfills in the Global South, such as the Atacama Desert in northern Chile, within three years of purchase. The petrochemical-based clothes of ‘fast fashion’ will take 200 years or longer to decompose, degrading the local ecosystem in the process.
What materials should we build the future out of in order to break this consumerist drive towards self-destruction? How do we define the relationship between the world of limited natural resources and the world of our material creations? What do sustainability, the closed-loop economy, and zero emissions mean to us? Are they merely politically correct slogans, or genuine values that guide our daily choices?
The 14th edition of Przemiany Festival is dedicated to material design and engineering, recognising these fields as strategically crucial for the future of our planet. By presenting a wide range of both new and traditional materials, we aim to show that behind every experimental sample, prototype, and finished product, there are smart and inspiring stories. Take, for instance, the story of the fish-skin stool by Nienke Hoogvliet, showcased at the festival exhibition. Hoogvliet, who calls herself an ‘artivist’ (a term combining artist and activist), grew up on the North Sea coast, gaining firsthand knowledge of both its complex ecosystem and the problems related to its pollution and overexploitation. She collected fish waste from local shops and discovered a way to tan fish skins without using any chemicals. By using an old technique, she created a strong and durable material, which she used to craft a stool that became her ‘zero waste’ manifesto.
Another story, this time told from a nanoscale perspective, is presented by Prof. Urszula Stachewicz from the AGH University of Science and Technology in Kraków. During the official opening of the festival on 11 October, we will hear about polymer nanofibres produced by electrospinning. This creation was inspired by the structure of polar bear fur. These nanofibres can be used in biomedicine as insulating materials and for harvesting water and energy.
Both examples illustrate the interplay between two complementary perspectives that define this year's festival programme. The first is related to the development of science and advanced technologies (nanotechnology, bioengineering, artificial intelligence), which allow the design of increasingly durable materials tailored to our needs for use in the most diverse areas of life – from medicine to the space industry. Experimental stations prepared by the Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering at the Warsaw University of Technology will be dedicated to innovations and techniques like these.
The second perspective relates to sustainable design and artistic interventions that seek practical alternatives to synthetic and often toxic everyday items. At the exhibition, we will present samples from the Future Materials Bank, an archive of ecological materials created by the Jan van Eyck Academie in the Netherlands. Materials made from seaweed, mushrooms, salt, plant roots, eggshells, castor oil, and human hair should be seen not only as an artistic protest against global waste, but also as a real solution for industries. The ‘Multi-material House’ created by the CENTRALA collective is maintained in a similar vein. This initiative aims to construct a pavilion designed for multisensory experiences with natural materials such as wood, stone, straw, and clay. The project, which is the result of research into traditional building techniques, is a bold call for a return to living, circular architecture – one that embraces natural cycles of decay and renewal, responds to challenges of the climate change, and coexists with other species.
The materiality, in which we clothe our reality, interests us not only in terms of chemical composition and environmental impact, but also in terms of its variety of structural forms. Our expert in this field will be Matthew Gardiner from Ars Electronica Futurelab, who – by combining his interests in robotics and origami – has created the concept of ‘oribotics,’ which describes an innovative approach to studying the morphology of both living organisms and the products of our culture. During the meeting, combined with a performance, Gardiner will present, among other things, an instrument that generates sound – as he puts it – by means of ‘choreographed folding paths and geometric gestures’.
Circularity and biomimicry, i.e. the study of the infinite variety of forms in the natural world, are the two main themes of this year's festival, explored not only in the exhibition, but above all during the meetings with experts and debates that give voice to our audience. The visitors of the festival will also have the opportunity to take part in table discussions (World Café), dedicated to the closed-loop economy in practice. This is a new format that has not yet been featured at the Przemiany. We will discuss our personal relationships with fashion, food production, household items, and transportation.
The festival will be complemented by screenings of documentaries, an interactive installation, a multimedia dance performance, as well as workshops and presentations in the festival café. All elements of the programme will be accompanied by various materials that serve as carriers of essential questions and inspiring ideas crucial for materializing a stable future.
Rafał Kosewski
Curator of Przemiany Festival
