Public Events

Thursday, 3 April 2025, 4.30pm
Roundtable Discussion
Interwoven Dependencies. Redressing Fashion and the Heritage of Mission
With participants of the conference
Moderator: Prof. Dr. Pia Wiegmink (BCDSS)
Venue: Global Heritage Lab at P26, Poststraße 26, 53111 Bonn and online

Please register for onsite attendance: https://lmy.de/ZNIOM
Please register for online attendance: https://lmy.de/iMgsY

Christian missionaries pressured women in colonial contact zones to dress more ‘appropriately’ according to European understandings of Christian modesty. At the same time, access to new material goods was one of the attractions to convert. New converts and missionaries actively negotiated the re-composition of local and European fashion styles and, related to this, new forms of body and gender norms and identities. The recomposed forms of dress evolved constantly, gradually acquiring the status of ‘traditional’ dress and becoming materialisations of cultural identity and belonging. Yet, against the backdrop of postcolonial critique and the latest decolonization movements worldwide, the perception of these on-going fashions is currently shifting and being questioned as part of colonial legacies. Given these historical processes, how can we rethink dress and fashion not only as cultural expressions but also as archives of lived experiences, contestations, and resistances? This roundtable discussion brings together scholars and artists to explore these questions and unlock the transdisciplinary potential of dialogue between the arts and academia.

Tuauoovisiua Katuoo, Windhoek, 2021. Photo: Julia Binter.