An attitude for the future

Strike a pose Festival from 2 to 4 June 2023

Strike a pose, the third! New festival venues and international participants promise deep insights into a world in which fashion and art inspire each other at this year's edition of the festival. Under the question "How do we want to live in the future?" strike a pose will present works by artists, designers and labels from the North Rhine-Westphalian art and fashion scene from June 2 to 4, 2023. Venues include the K21 of the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, the NRW-Forum Düsseldorf, the Philara Collection and sipgate. The latter is the venue for the symposium, in which demands and approaches to protest in fashion and art will be negotiated under the claim "Protest - Between Utopia and Dystopia." Shortly before the start of the festival, the initiators Ljiljana Radlovic and Robert Danch reveal what festival visitors can expect on the first weekend in June.

Ljiljana, what are the most important changes in the new edition of strike a pose festival?

Ljiljana Radlovic: The fact that we are presenting a major international project for the first time is a novelty. The Cologne curator Geesche Arning, together with the curator Joshua Simon from Tel Aviv, is presenting an exhibition of Israeli positions at the NRW Forum. The artist Ruti de Vries shows there her characteristic archaic figures and silhouettes, the designer Yifat Finkelshtein works with the artist Olga Jakob on printed and sewn patterns. Large canvas paintings by artist Boyan Lozanov complement the jewelry and designs of Lutra (Liora Taragan), and the designers of Holyland Civilians show a banner as well as a set of uniforms made especially for the entire staff of strike a pose. In total we have invited more international positions. What they all have in common is that they have a relation to the Rhineland.

Robert Danch: There is Frances Scholz, for example, who works with the Cologne gallery Clages. She is a painter and filmmaker and is concerned with materiality and transparency. Together with New York artist Susan Cianciolo, who also designs her own fashion collection, Scholz has developed a film in which textiles and clothing are staged in the great outdoors. Such works demonstrate how the network around strike a pose is becoming internationalized and the region is being enlivened in this regard, which is an important concern for us.

There were also organizational changes.  

Robert Danch: Yes, with this third edition we are really setting up the event as a festival now. Previously, there was a gallery day and a fashion day. In some cases, that wasn't quite clear-cut. Now the individual events are more interwoven and we have designed the program to be more project-oriented. We deliberately invited the project initiators and cooperation partners directly and worked out a festival program with them that includes screenings, performances and exhibitions.

What highlights can visitors look forward to?

Ljiljana Radlovic: To Tim Berresheim, an artist who is very well known in North Rhine-Westphalia. In his work "Abbastanza panini" Berresheim conveys an old truth: "Stale bread is not hard. No bread, it's hard." We are also excited to see fashion designer Jens Laugesen from London.

Robert Danch: Initiated by the lingerie label Opaak, a photo shoot with twelve different fashion photographers will take place on Saturday, which seems to us to be a logistical challenge. Immediately afterwards, we will show how the different photographers have interpreted the label's products.

Ljiljana Radlovic: As part of strike a pose there will also be a performance by Franziska Zahl aka FRZNTE. Zahl works as a DJ, pole performer and cultural producer, combining dance and sculptural elements in her pole performances. She is a fixture in the Berlin art world. Her appearance at K21 will be her first performance in North Rhine-Westphalia.

Robert Danch: A highlight of Sunday's symposium will be a workshop by the net art and activist group The Yes Men. Their Senior Mischief Conductor, Keil Orion Troisi, will share creative techniques for amplifying environmental and social justice campaigns. This should be exciting.

strike a pose Festival
Friday, June 2, to Sunday, June 4, 2023
at K21 Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen;
other venues: NRW-Forum Düsseldorf, Philara Collection, sipgate, Live Lab Studios, the pool, LRRH_AERIAL.

Full program at www.strikeaposefestival.de.