March 2009
Platform21 = Repairing is a cultural project about mending things, initiated and organised by the Amsterdam creative centre Platform21.
With its Repair Manifesto, Platform21 celebrates repairing as the new recycling and offers an alternative to our outmoded ways of designing and consuming.
In a five-month programme consisting of an exhibition, lectures, workshops, Repair Clinics, a contest, and a forum held in Milan during the Salone del Mobile, Platform21 will investigate ways of revaluing repairing as a contemporary activity.
Emphasis will be placed on creative solutions and the sharing of knowledge among designers, artists, repairpersons and the public.
Platform21 = Repairing aims to raise awareness of a mentality, a culture and a practice that not so long ago was completely integrated into life and the way one designs it.
In the hope of spurring a reappraisal of repair, Platform21 has written a manifesto describing the benefits of fixing things and calling upon designers and consumers to break the chain of throwaway thinking.
Designers and consumers will meet at Platform21’s exhibition, workshops, lectures and repair evaluation clinics, all of which will take place in its circular building in Amsterdam.
The focus will be on discovering inventive and creative solutions and sharing knowledge.
Designers and artists have been asked to create new interactive works that will help visitors to repair beloved but broken possessions on the spot.
Nienke Sybrandy has designed a repair station at which visitors can learn to darn socks.
Daan van den Berg will involve them in a philosophical investigation of the values and benefits of repairing.
Visitors are asked to bring items that need fixing to the exhibition - even if repair seems impossible.
Leave the item in the space with a tag attached and a request that it be fixed, and a repair specialist might take pity on it.
Public can also participate by entering the competition. After successfully collaborating on the popular project Platform21 = Hacking IKEA, Platform21 and Dutch magazine Bright are holding a second design contest, this time calling for remarkable repairs.
Want to see what 24 hours of creative awesomeness look like? Click here.
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