Met trots presenteren we de tentoonstelling van de Freedom Dress van Karim Adduchi. Karim is tijdens het festival aanwezig om over dit unieke ontwerp te vertellen.

The Freedom Dress is an invitation to rethink the symbolic demarcations between the three Abrahamic religions: Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. Adduchi himself grew up in an intermingling of these spiritual traditions: he comes from a Muslim family with Jewish ancestry and attended a catholic school in Barcelona. In the eyes of a child, these traditions fitted together effortlessly. Hence, his question: if we would do away with the institutionalized differentiation between these religions, what would that look like?

As a designer Karim Adduchi expressed this coming together of spirits, this unity, sartorially. He used three garments specific to each religion: a discarded chasuble for Christianity, a black coat as part of Judaism, and a white prayer mat to represent Islam. These three garments he has combined into an elegant attire intended for a woman. With this he refers to the 17th-century custom where well-to-do women donated old dresses – made of valuable fabrics with intricate embroidery – to the clergy, to be remade into chasubles. It seems only fair that these garments, now discarded, are turned back again into a dress. The robe has been finished in collaboration and conversation with three young people from these three religious traditions.

Designer: Karim Adduchi

Makers: Carolina Oliveira, Michalis Pantelidis, Benthe Wassenaar

Material: Finely silk and golden thread embroidered chasuble. Black Jewish Bekishe Coat. Middle eastern tapestry decorated with Muslim motives.

Met dank aan het Amsterdam Museum.