Design & Crafts in Tunisia

Tunisia is famous for its arts and crafts scene. Naturally, designers attempting a more sustainable production approach are turning towards working with artisans. In their workshops they find a source of local hands-on production capacities with great skills for creating products with local identity, durability and lower CO2-emissions. Vice versa, cooperating with the designers means new income possibilities for the artisans.

The potential of the union of design and crafts is grasped by several stakeholders: the Design school of Tunis (Ecole Superieure Des Sciences et Technologies Du Design) is offering a Master Studies on Design for the Sustainable Development of Local Handicraft Productions (“DDD-Design Pour Le Développement Durable Des Productions Artisanales Locales”). Minassa, an incubation hub providing creative start-ups with entrepreneurial skills defines crafts as a branch of the creative industries ready to march off. Oxfam steps in and supports L’Artisanerie, an initiative giving structural, social, economic and marketing consultancy and support to artisans all over Tunis. The UNESCO honors the pottery of the town Sejnenia by declaring it a world heritage. The project Jbal from Kasserine sees working with design and crafts as a chance to strengthen local identity and to stabilize youngsters against extremist influences.

How do these initiatives give artisans the support they need to utilize the full social, economic and creative potential of their crafts?

L’Artisanerie is run by Lobna Saidi and works with artisans of different crafts all over Tunisia, from carpet weavers, potters, basket weavers to palm wood carpenters. The showroom in Tunis offers new marketing and publicity opportunities. One of the crafts producers is El Mensej, a collective of women weaving upcycling carpets in Nefta, an oasis town in the South of Tunisia. The women used to produce the handwoven carpets in their homes hence their activity was never regarded as a real job or paid by their families and society. Shanti, a local cooperation partner of L’Artisanerie, installed the structure that was missing: a local neighborhood working room, like a co-working space, where the women can actually pursue their work of weaving carpets any time that suites them, but are still near their homes so that they can still take care of their household chores. L’artisanerie provides marketing possibilities with the showroom in Tunis and with orders from customers from Tunis and Europe. By the sales of the carpets the women earn a living – for almost all of them it’s the first time in their lives.

The Master DDD (“DDD-Design Pour Le Développement Durable Des Productions Artisanales Locales”) aims at providing the design students with the full capacity of realizing a business with traditional crafts. They not only learn and practice their design skills and technical understanding of crafts, but at the same time how to work with artisans in an equitable way so that the design outcome is based on true artistic collaboration. Therefore, the human scale of working together is given great importance. The students practice these skills in hands-on-projects with artisans. Besides, they learn all the economic marketing skills to make a business out of their product idea. As the master runs successfully since several years, the graduates already prove themselves as successful entrepreneurs.  For example, Khansa Yazidi  reinterprets the Tunisian bathroom by designing brass fittings, taps, basins and towel holders handmade by local artisans in unconventional playful shapes; e.g. the piping of a tap can take the shape of a flamingo. Mariem Ben Abid founded the internationally successful company Suddart which produces and sells a wide arrangement of beautifully designed ceramic tiles.

Crafts also come in when projects deal with preserving cultural heritage and identity. The initiative Djerba Insolite aims to save the craft traditions of the island Djerba in the collective memory by opening them up to new influences and inviting designers to create new designs with the artisans.

The artist Sana Tamzini sets another statement of preserving and reviving traditional crafts and skills with her artistic work. She creates light installations, photography, videos and art performances in public space actively integrating local people. In her site-specific works she records and transmits disappearing traditional customs, craft skills and agricultural practices and interprets their importance for identity. In the village of Takrouna she realized an installation and a performance relating to the gathering of Esparto Grass which is used for weaving doormats and baskets. In the village of Chénini she created an installation, projection and performance by working with the last stone breaker of the area by projecting him during his work into a cave that had been created by other stone breakers in the past.

The vibrancy and importance of crafts in Tunisia mean a wonderful playground and chance for Tunisian product designers. Whereas designers in Western Europe are often faced with the situation of the actual production taking place all over the world, Tunisian designers find hand-on crafts production right in from of their door which makes it easier to start small scale individual crafts productions. So the merging of crafts and design in Tunisia means great chances and benefits for both of them, designers and artisans.

Fotos:

Jbal: Marouan Zbidi

L’Artisanerie: Mohamed Amine Charbti

Suddart: Suddart

Sana Tamzini: Mejdi Bekri

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Die Recherchereise nach Tunis und Thessaloniki im Rahmen des ECO DESIGN FORUM international veranstalten wir als Kooperationspartner der Stadt Köln. Das Projekt wird gefördert durch die Stadt Köln aus Mitteln der Partnerstadtprogramme und Engagement Global aus Mitteln des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen.

ökoRAUSCH Partner Feature | Raute Film

Sustainable Films for Good Ideas 

We love filmmaking because, in the beginning, anything seems possible: ideas, desires and dreams know no bounds. But how do you make a tangible film out of an abstract idea? For us, it is essential to connect creativity with the craft. We see which possibilities an idea offers and which means and resources are available. A good idea on its own cannot make a film if it isn’t properly implemented, just as a technically brilliant film is worthless without a message. We see finding a good balance between these two aspects as a constant challenge.

What is sustainable film production?

Nature is the foundation of all of our lives. For our work, it is an important source of inspiration and regeneration, which is why we organise our work to be as sustainable as possible in order to protect nature and our environment. This means planning our projects as efficiently as possible and organising the production to be ecological and social. We use green energy in our office, an ethical bank and eco-friendly web hosting. Our content mostly focuses on topics related to sustainability. We see ourselves first and foremost as a service provider for companies and organisations. We produce image films, video portraits, documentaries and social media campaigns. But we also develop our own projects. Here is a list of a few of them.

Degrowth Conference in Leipzig

In September of 2014, the 4th International Degrowth Conference took place in Leipzig. Over a five day period, at the university and in places throughout the city people discussed, presented and lived by example what an ecologically and socially equitable society could look like in practice. At the time, we mainly documented the main conference events. Working on this issue greatly inspired us, influencing how we work up to today.

Here is the website for the Degrowth Conference.

The 17 sustainability goals for Cologne

A current project was the filming of 18 video clips about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) with the Allerweltshaus Köln e.V. and the Bündnis Kommunale Nachhaltigkeit Köln (Cologne Alliance for Communal Sustainability). This project presented what the SDGs are to begin with, and what they have to do with Cologne. Together with bureau gruen., it was our job to present the SDGs, the 17 global sustainability goals of the United Nations, in social media friendly video clips. The focus of the videos were three people who live in Cologne. Ivy, Jana and Luca presented the sustainability goals for the videos.

ökoRAUSCH and Raute Film

We were also at the ökoRAUSCH Festival 2017 to make three videos about the Festival for our project “transformathek”.

Clear and focussed. Always in motion.

So films can be more than just pure entertainment. They can both entertain and inform. They can change points of view and show viewers new perspectives. Most of all, they can move people, inspire them and motivate them to do new things. That is our aspiration in filmmaking. If you would like to see more, come check us out.

Flaÿou – „joyful design“ made in Tunis

Introduction

Hella El Khiari and Thomas Egoumenides first met 2009 in Paris, where they both studied Architecture. After a few years of working as architects in different studios throughout Paris and Montreal the Tunisian-French couple moved to Tunis, Tunisia. Here, in 2016, they founded flaÿou – an interdisciplinary design studio for graphic, object and architectural design.

Visiting the Studio

We got to know Hella and Thomas during our research trip to Tunis in November 2019. Visiting their studio in the district of La Marsa, we learn about their motivation, curiosity and passion toward materials, techniques and objects that tell their own story. Welcoming us with coffee and homemade cookies, we’re completely delighted by this self-proclaimed „dream team“ bursting with energy and positive charm. 

The playful and refreshing approach reflected by each of their objects matches the studio name: In Arabic „flaÿou“ referres to a specific type of mint and is also a nickname for typical Tunisian mint drops that are usually attached to business cards as a small gift.

„Joyful design“ is the term Hella likes to use in this context. They want their works to be fun. All the products we are shown in their space are colorful, playful and made with attention to detail. As a basis they work with ecological and recycled materials like clay, cork, collected plastic bottles or other pre-used materials.

About two of their products we talked about in more depth and discover more about the idea and the design process:

Chich-bich (Backgammon)

Inspired by the craftsmanship of the female potters from Sejnane in the northern part of Tunisia, flaÿou created three strategic games made of cley, burnt in the open fire. The collection’s name „Chich-bich“ is the Tunisian word for Backgammon. Chess and Checkers are also part of the series. All the figures are handmade (without a pottery wheel) and can be bought in a variety of colors. For the traditional coloring local herbs and other plants are used. Going hand in hand with the humorous approach of the „dream team“ the games are presented in home-designed pizza box packaging.

On their website the collection’s elaborate creation process is shown in a video. The traditional handicraft pottery of the Sejnane women made it onto the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2018.

Tunis en poche…

… is the name of a miniature city made from pastel colored resin, cork or chocolate. The set includes eight miniatures of iconic Tunis buildings. They are each paired with a leaflet with personal anecdotes and information about their history and architecture. The former entrance gate to the old part of the city „Bab Saadoun“, the Olympic stadium „El Menzah“ as well as the impressive and vacant „Hôtel du Lac“ are just three examples ans show an interesting variety of construction and styles that characterizes the city’s appearance today.

Hella and Thomas sell their work in a few selected shops in and outside the country as well as in their online shop. They also share their passion for materials, traditional crafts and innovative production methods in workshops and other cooperative projects. If you want to learn more about them, have a look at their website.

We are very excited to have met the two of them in this personal way and wish them all the best for the future, a ton of fun and fresh ideas!

 

Fotos: Achref Guesmi

 

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Die Recherchereise nach Tunis und Thessaloniki im Rahmen des ECO DESIGN FORUM international veranstalten wir als Kooperationspartner der Stadt Köln. Das Projekt wird gefördert durch die Stadt Köln aus Mitteln der Partnerstadtprogramme und Engagement Global aus Mitteln des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen.

The Collectif Creatif

The Collectif Creatif is ökoRAUSCH’s cooperation partner in Tunis supporting our network and research activities. The NGO aims to promote cultural activities and the creative industries in Tunis, to improve the social and economic state of the Medina (the old town of Tunis), to provide creative activities for youth and to rise environmental awareness among the inhabitants of Tunis. The initiators come from the creative fields themselves. For example, we were accompanied by Dhafer Ben Khalifa, a designer and design lecturer at the Higher Institute of Fashion Design of Monastir, and Leila Ben Gacem, who with her Bluefish agency works on developing the social and economic potential of the Medina by restoration and crafts.

To understand the Collectif Creatif’s approach it helps to take a look inside the architectural and social structure of the medina: Beautiful large mansions provide space for large families to live closely together. Yet the structure of these buildings is inconvenient for a modern lifestyle with small families demanding privacy and individual freedom. So, many inhabitants have moved to the modern city centre of Tunis. A number of the empty mansions has stayed neglected, others have been filled by villagers moving in from the countryside and enjoying the close neighbourhoods and networks the medina is offering. This process led to a rather economically disadvantaged population mix, bringing along social problems like high unemployment amongst youth.

To tackle these problems by creative and cultural means the Collectif Creatif since its starting in 2016 realized a number of impressive projects and events, always involving and activating the inhabitants of the Medina.

In 2016, 2018 and 2020 the International Light Art Project „Interferences“ gathered several Tunisian and foreign light artists in the Medina of Tunis. The inhabitants of the medina, especially youngsters, were actively involved in the realization of the event as volunteers. So, they were activated not only in supporting the international artists getting installed in the Medina but also in improving their English skills.

Some of the volunteers acquired their skills in another project of the Collectif; „Doora-Fel-Houma”, an initiative to educate young people between 18 and 30 years old, living in the Medina of Tunis and its suburbs, to become guides for tourists and for artists involved in the Collectif Creatif’s projects. Valorising the knowledge of their daily living in the medina enables them to re-appropriate their living space. At the same time, they create an innovative urban tourism offer by offering guided tours in selected neighbourhoods. Another means to make the voice of the medina heard is the „Journal de la Medina”, a journal for the medina written mostly by the people of the Medina that traces the thrilling everyday life in the old town of Tunis.

With „El Warcha” the Collectif Creatif installed an open maker space where the local community meets to develop projects around urban furniture and public space with a focus on upcycling techniques. With „Fantek” the Collectif offers a digital art school and residency program that offers workshops and trainings in the fields of sound, visual and interactive digital arts and is especially aimed at reaching and activating youngsters. „Dar El-Harka” is a co-working space and cultural hub where several Tunisian and foreign young people meet to learn Tunisian dialect, foreign languages or calligraphy and to exchange around cultural projects.

In 2018 the Collectif’s collaboration on the international project „The Sea… Final destination?“ (by the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, supported by Drosos Foundation) in the Medina meant the starting point of the Collectif Creatif’s environmental activities. They dedicated three special issues of the Journal De La Médina to this topic and a series of zero waste creative workshops during which Tunisians were invited to explore sustainability in a playful way, e.g. upcycling weaving with women artisans, DIY composting, plastic shredding or recycling. Since then their engagement on environmental topics has increased; they focus on involving various stakeholders such as the Municipality of Tunis, the high schools of the area and the Medina community. With „Trash to Treasure” (2019/2020) the Collectif developed an educational curriculum for environmental clubs at high schools in Tunis focused on waste management, waste reduction and upcycling –in collaboration with the municipalities of Tunis and Cologne. Following the wish to initiate a movement of urban agriculture in the Medina uniting environmental commitments with economic development opportunities and strengthened social links the „J’nina Fel M’dina”, an urban garden on the rooftop of an ancient Medina House, was inaugurated (with the support of the German embassy). A second urban garden was initiated 400 metres away at another building’s courtyard. Hydroponic systems, trays for growing vegetables, a mushroom growing space and sitting areas were installed. El Warcha was and continues to be closely involved in the set-up, not only in building the physical structure of the gardens but also in continuing to maintain the gardens, involving the inhabitants, mentoring students from the neighbourhood’s schools and organizing cultural and gardening workshops.

With this impressive range of projects, the Collectif Creatif is very well connected into the creative scene all over Tunis, and thus a splendid cooperation partner for ökoRAUSCH on exploring the sustainable design scene of Tunis and bringing exhibitors to the ökoRAUSCH Festival in Köln.

Fotos:

Interference: https://www.facebook.com/intunis.net/

Doora Fel Houma: Doora Fel Houma 2018, Photo-Med-Ali-Agrbi, http://doorafelhouma.net/

El Warcha: El Warcha, https://www.elwarcha.org/

Trash to treasure: https://www.facebook.com/برنامج-الفضلات-ثروات-109108353836794/

Jnina Fel M’dina: Collectif Creatif, www.facebook.com/Collectif-Cr%C3%A9atif-Tunis-113476726674662/

 

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Die Recherchereise nach Tunis und Thessaloniki im Rahmen des ECO DESIGN FORUM international veranstalten wir als Kooperationspartner der Stadt Köln. Das Projekt wird gefördert durch die Stadt Köln aus Mitteln der Partnerstadtprogramme und Engagement Global aus Mitteln des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen.

Partner of the 2020 Festival  | Guest contribution by the GIZ

The ökoRAUSCH Festival 2020 is supported by many great cooperation partners. We would like to give them the opportunity to present themselves and their current projects.

NachhaltICH* – What gender equality has to do with sustainability and how you can contribute to the cause

Goal 5 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has set a clear goal: Gender equality should be achieved by 2030. But what does gender equality have to do with sustainability, and hasn’t this already been achieved in Germany? After all, men and women have the same rights. March 8 is International Women’s Day and we have taken this day as an occasion to really think about these questions.

Gender equality is sustainability

The 17 SDGs are holistic because they do not only take into account the ecological perspectives of sustainability, but they recognise that social and economic aspects are just as important for both a sustainable life and society. Furthermore, the SDGs take into consideration that the individual goals influence one another, so the interdependencies must be considered.

When talking about gender equality worldwide, the numbers speak for themselves: there is still a lot to do, not only for the specific targets of SGD 5, but also with regard to other goals. This pertains to everyday life, such as the job market and health; for example, women represent approximately 40 % of agricultural workers, but only around 14 % of landowners are female. Furthermore, around 300,000 women die annually due to complications during pregnancy or childbirth due to lacking quality health care. Women are especially vulnerable during war and crises; for example, three out of four victims of human trafficking are female.

Not a German problem?

Yes it is! Lacking gender equality is not just a problem that other countries have. It is estimated that in Germany, one in three women will experience violence during her lifetime, often in a romantic relationship. This is only an estimate, however, because many women do not press charges.

Even the much discussed “gender pay gap”, the gap between the pay women and men receive, is an issue that is relevant in Germany. That does not necessarily mean that women are paid less for doing the same job. Factors such as part-time jobs are taken into account because women often do not work full-time: they are the ones with the most responsibility in the family. Care work, meaning the care of children or other family members, is unpaid. Women therefore have a smaller income than men and are more financially dependent on their partners than men are. At the same time, they have a double load with care work and wage labour, and their work is valued differently by society; it is equated more with care and emotions than with profitability. A more sustainable world is therefore a world that also supports more equal conditions between genders. For it is only when everyone has the same rights that we can actually live sustainably.

Gender equality – not only for women

Gender equality is often equated with the needs of women and girls. But the rights of members of the LGBTQIA+ community are also taken into consideration under the umbrella term of “gender”. Because gender quality often relates to role models and stereotypes, men also benefit from the discussion about this issue because when female gender roles in society are questioned, the roles of men in society are also questioned.

What can I do?

For the most part, gender equality has been achieved in legal terms and has come a long way, especially in recent decades. Two examples: Until 1997, marital rape was not recognised as such in the eyes of German law, it was considered assault or coercion. Until 1958, a husband was allowed to terminate their working wife’s labor contract without notice – and without the woman’s consent – and he had the exclusive right to manage her wages.

These laws no longer exist, but the corresponding roles have not quite disappeared. They have changed over the years, but they are so deeply engrained in our society that they still influence our thinking and therefore our behaviour. Which is why it is so important to speak about and question the status quo, especially regarding issues such as gender equality, where the problems are not always obvious at first glance. In speaking about it and questioning it, you are directly advocating for a more sustainable society.

The NachhaltICH app offers you specific suggestions regarding this issue. Have you ever talked to friends or family about gender-based discrimination? Do you know if there is a gender equality officer at your school, university or at work? Is there an association in your town that campaigns against genital mutilation? What is the gender pay gap in your company? Gender equality is a sensitive issue that begins in the minds of people, which is why it is of great value to have quality conversations about it: It affects not only our female friends, sisters, mothers and grandmothers, but also our male friends, brothers, fathers and grandfathers.

So what are you waiting for? You can download the app from any app store, Google Play, or directly from www.nachhaltich-app.de and take on exciting challenges!

*A play on words meaning “Sustainability and me”

ökoRAUSCH Festival 2020 | Kick-off

iphiGenia Gender Design Award / iGDN
(international Gender Design Network e.V.)

Mit dem iphiGenia Gender Design Award würdigt das international Gender Design Network e.V. (iGDN) jährlich die besten internationalen gendersensiblen Unternehmen, Initiativen und Produkte. Das Netzwerk möchte in der Branche ein Genderbewusstsein als feste Instanz in allen Gestaltungsprozessen etablieren. Das iGDN engagiert sich in Workshops, Symposien und Vorträgen gegen „Genderblindness“ und für kluges Design ohne Stereotype.

Ina von Rumohr ist Vorstandsmitglied im iGDN, das seinen Sitz in Köln hat. Im Interview erzählt die selbstständige Diplom-Designerin, warum Genderbewusstsein für Nachhaltigkeit sorgt, welche Innovationskraft es im Design entfalten kann und wie man damit die Welt verändern kann.

Wir freuen uns sehr, den iphiGenia Gender Design Award beim ökoRAUSCH Festival 2020 im MAKK in unserer Ausstellung präsentieren zu können!

Wem es jetzt schon unter den Nägeln brennt, mehr über die Arbeit des iGDN herauszufinden, kann sich hier weiterklicken:

iphi-award.org (ab sofort offen für Einreichungen!)
genderdesign.org
https://www.facebook.com/iGenderDesignNetwork/
https://www.instagram.com/int.genderdesignnetwork/
https://twitter.com/genderdesign

ökoRAUSCH Festival 2020 | Kick-off

Thomas Baumgärtel – der Bananensprayer

Der in Köln lebende Thomas Baumgärtel machte sich in der Kunstwelt unter dem Psyeudonym „der Bananensprayer“ einen Namen, indem er seit 1986 viele der besten Kunstorte weltweit mit der Spraybanane „vernetzt“ hat. Als inoffizielles Logo der Kunstszene ziert seine Banane ca. 4000 Kunstmuseen, Galerien, Kunstvereine und alternative Orte von Köln über New York, Basel, Berlin, London, Moskau, Wien und weitere. Doch damit nicht genug: die Palette seines künstlerischen Schaffens reicht von Gemälden, Zeichnungen, Drucken und Fotocollagen über subversiven Sprayaktionen bis hin zu Performances und Happenings. In seiner Arbeit setzt sich der freie Künstler, der auch Diplom-Psychologie studierte, dabei auch kritisch bis provokant mit verschiedenen gesellschaftlichen Themen auseinander. Im Interview erzählt er, welchen Bezug er zu Nachhaltigkeitsthemen hat, wo Nachhaltigkeit und Kunst zusammenkommen und was Nachhaltigkeit für ihn bedeutet.

Wir freuen uns, Thomas Baumgärtel als Aussteller beim ökoRAUSCH Festival 2020 präsentieren zu können!

Wer sich vorher schon etwas von ihm anschauen will, kann sich hier durchklicken:

ökoRAUSCH Festival 2020 | Kick-off

„We are strong“

Die Schüler*innen der Schule im Süden in Meschenich wissen, was sie wollen. Mit einem Brief wandten Sie sich Anfang Januar an die Bezirksvertretung und schilderten die Zustände der Spielanlagen am Kölnberg und baten um Hilfe. Ihr größter Wunsch, ein Skateplatz. Die Studierenden der ecosign führten im Rahmen von 2 Projekttagen mit den Schüler*innen ein interdisziplinäres Gemeinschaftsprojekt durch. Die Kinder wurden hierdurch zu Gestalter*innen ihres Anliegens und wirkten an der Umsetzung ihres größten Wunsches aktiv mit. Das Projekt wurde durch die Zusammenarbeit von Caritas, Jugendpflege, Bezirksvertretung und Hauverwaltung mit der Schule im Süden und der ecosign realisiert.

Wir freuen uns, dieses wunderbare Projekt in unserer Ausstellung beim ökoRAUSCH Festival 2020 präsentieren zu können!

ökoRAUSCH international – visiting our partner city Tunis

We, the ökoRAUSCH team, are currently preparing for our next ökoRAUSCH festival in 2020. Again we will invite designers and artists from different partner cities of Cologne to take part in our exhibition on sustainable design and in the international ECO DESIGN FORUM held during the festival time. In 2016/17 we cooperated greatly with our partners from Istanbul, Barcelona, Tel Aviv and Bethlehem (Ramallah/Auja). Now, in 2019/20 we are undertaking research and networking trips to integrate new partner cities into our activities as well as to widen our network on sustainable design in Europe and the MENA-region (Middle East and North Africa). The first new city is Tunis, partner city of Cologne and capital of the Arab spring. During a four-day-trip my colleagues Anna Kamphues, Liliana Marinho de Sousa and I researched the scene of sustainable design and social arts in the city, networked like crazy, held a small event to give a presentation on the ökoRAUSCH festival and also visited a design and fashion school in Monastir. Tunis is teeming with sustainably working creatives and vibrant with exciting initiatives supporting the development of social and ecologically responsible design. The initiatives are surely enjoying the democratic freedom established by the revolution that gives them the possibilities to engage themselves for the topics they care about. The creative approaches revolve mainly around three central topics: reviving the medina (the old town) of Tunis, handicrafts and upcycling. On our trip we were accompanied by our cooperation partner, the Collectif Creatif, an NGO promoting cultural activities and creative industries while embracing sustainability in its economic, social and environmental aspects. They realize events and projects that often stand in context to reviving the Medina, from „Interferences“, an international light arts festival, over the upcycling-space El Warcha, where they activate youth to build upcycling furniture for public spaces, to developing a curriculum for environmental clubs at high schools. We were accompanied by Dhafer Ben Khalifa, himself a designer and a teacher at the Higher Institute of Fashion Professions of Monastir, and Leila Ben Gacem, who runs the Bluefish agency. With the support of our well connected partners the days were filled with exciting encounters and insights: Thursday 31.10.2019: Higher Institute of Fashion Professions of Monastir We visited the Higher Institute of Fashion Professions of Monastir where our cooperation partner Dhafer is teaching accessories design. The state institute firstly amazed us with its location at the seaside but also with its extensive equipment of fashion industry tools. Lecturers of the institute showed to be very interested in sustainable approaches to design and joined our talk about the ökoRAUSCH festival. Then we were presented an exhibition of a project on upcycling fashion and accessories that the students had undertaken during the last semester and who keenly introduced their absolutely amazing works.

Friday 1.11.2019: Networking like crazy

We ran through a tight programme of visiting four different design initiatives and one vernissage: First we met Flayou, the agency of two product designers focused on cool, humorous, sustainable design. Did you ever want to pack the most intriguing architectural sights of a city into a small box to carry them home with you? Flayou makes it possible. The next stop was Cogite, a coworking space comprising several shared workplaces as well as offices and support programs for start-ups, and – a swimming pool. We met with Houeida Anouar, Chief Executive Officer, who is keen to promote and encourage female entrepreneurship. At the showroom of L’Artisanerie Lobna Saidi gave us insights into their support of artisans all over Tunisia; producers of upcycled carpets, pottery, basketry and palm wood carpentry are assisted in improving the organization of their work, in price-making, design and distribution. Finally we got to know Minassa, an incubation hub for creative businesses located in a beautiful Medina mansion. They support start-ups from the fields of fashion over animation and media to décoration and artisanat (crafts), marketing e.g. new lines of pottery products. In the evening we had the chance to visit the vernissage of the exhibition „Utopia“ initiated by the Goethe Institute Tunis on the occasion for 100 years of Bauhaus. Tunisian designers and artists were invited to create works commenting the concept of the Bauhaus. We again met the designers of Flayou and El Warcha who had contributed works to the exhibition.

Saturday 2.11. Talk Event in Dar Ben Gacem

Together with the Collectif Creatif we organized a talk and network event where we gave a presentation about the activities of the ökoRAUSCH Think Tank and sustainable design in Germany to Tunisian designers. We had decided on a rather cosy event of about 20 people, so all the designers present had time to introduce their work and there was plenty of time for intense exchange.  Again, the merging of traditional crafts with modern design and upcycling materials marked the way of sustainable production for the Tunisian creatives. We were impressed by the participants – many run their own company selling their product line. And many of them are women. Just like Mariem Ben Abid, founder of the successful company Suddart, puts it: „If you want to get things done, work with women. So in my company, I work only with women.” 1.) Association Djerba Insolite (initiative supporting crafts in Djerba) 2.) Nina L. (upcycling leather bags) 3.) Suddart (cement tiles) 4.) Khansa Yazidi (bathroom taps and basins) 5.) Kimaenti (upcycling jewellery made of used clothes) 6.) Regliz Kidz (embroidery) 7.) Tin Hinan (leather bags) 8.) Naila Jendoubi, Sana Tamzini,(Ecole Superieure Des Sciences et Technologies Du Design: DDD Design Pour Le Développement Durable Des Productions Artisanales Locales): Master Studies on Design for Sustainable Development 9.) Sana Tamzini (artist)

Sunday 3.11.: More networking

The last day again was full of encounters. We visited the atelier of Marouan Zbidi, a member of the Collectif Creatif, who impressed us with his interpretations of traditional crafts. During a visit of the DIY and-Design-fair „Handmade“ in the Acropolium de Carthage we connected with the initiative Sejnenia which supports a groupe of women who are producing a certain kind of pottery in a traditional technique only existing in Sejnenia and rewarded as world heritage. Finally a guided tour with Wajdi Borji, another member of the Collectif Creatif, offered us more insights into the social structure of life in the Medina and thus a deeper understanding of the work of the Collectif Creatif. Our visit finished with a dinner with Leila Chennoufi who is the initiator of Envirofest, an environmental film festival taking place all over Tunisia.

And now?

We were impressed by the variety and vibrancy of the sustainable design scene of Tunis and are already looking forward to presenting and seeing the creatives we met on the ökoRAUSCH Festival in Cologne. We thank our cooperation partners, the Collectif Creatif, for their great support!

 

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Die Recherchereise nach Tunis und Thessaloniki im Rahmen des ECO DESIGN FORUM international veranstalten wir als Kooperationspartner der Stadt Köln. Das Projekt wird gefördert durch die Stadt Köln aus Mitteln der Partnerstadtprogramme und Engagement Global aus Mitteln des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen.

ökoRAUSCH Festival 2020 | Winner in the category of “start-ups”

Fashion from Kibera to the world!

Have you ever heard of Kibera? Located to the south of downtown Nairobi, it is one of the largest informal settlements on the African continent. Starting up a fashion label there is…unbelievable! And David Avido (24), born and raised in Kibera, did just that. Today he is dressing world famous musicians and this year he began selling his fashion in Europe. His story inspires young people from his neighbourhood and people all over the world. lookslike avido proves that anything is possible if you are focused and have faith in your own strengths.

“It always bothered me that I was reduced to where I came from,” says Avido. He always hears people say that people from Kibera are poor, criminals and addicted to drugs. “Those are all real problems. But with my fashion I want to show people that there is much more to Kibera than just that. There is huge creative potential here! I want to inspire people and help my people feel proud of their neighbourhood.” Avido has spoken in front of thousands of youth in Kenia, and international reggae and dancehall artists are wearing lookslike avido pieces.

Cologne: A bridge to Europe

Avido visited Germany for the first time in July 2019. We had met prior to that in Nairobi. I was there on business and now organise European sales out of Cologne: Neonyt at the Berlin Fahion Week, Summerjam music festival, and a number of his own events were all a big success: We learned a lot, had a lot of people make orders with us, and we told Avido’s story. Even Wolfgang Joop took an interest in Avido and we are eagerly awaiting his call… It was a very exciting experience to speak to people about fashion from Kibera, it was the most direct form of feedback we could get. At the same, seeing the innovative approaches and technical possibilities of recycling and circular fashion made a lasting impression on us.

Social and ecological sustainability

The label lookslike avido produces its pieces in Kibera and joined the formal sector of its own accord, which is a big step for a company operating in a context in which most small and medium sized companies remain in the informal sector. A group of 10 seamstresses are always ready to produce pieces on an order basis for fair wages. There are currently six work stations in Avido’s Atelier. As the number of orders grows, employment positions will be created that are subject to social insurance. The biggest challenge is the issue of sourcing and localisation. Many of the local companies in East Africa that provide raw material for textiles are not large enough to guarantee consistent quality of their material. Others already have fixed business partners. Furthermore, there is rarely information about the origin or production standards of the material available at the markets. The label is currently negotiating with a number of local producers in East Africa, as well as exploring how upcycling elements could be integrated into some of the products. The upcoming collection already has the first of such pieces. During the trip to Germany, the label came up with even more ideas for new and more sustainable designs.

We are excited to see what the next year will bring and we look forward to the opportunity to present lookslike avido at the ökoRAUSCH Festival in the summer of 2020!

Photographer: Eric Greven