The Mendit Research Lab, founded by Liudmila Aliabieva in Moscow in August 2021, is an independent practice-led female research collective that brings together nine participants who are close in research and creative spirit united by their interest in clothing cultures, sustainable practices, textile activism and co-creative strategies.

The Lab operates in a variety of formats, ranging from traditional academic forms such as seminars and discussion groups to practice-based workshops working both within and outside academia. We look at repair as an act of care and attachment, as a form of resistance and problem-solving, as a therapeutical and creative gesture, as a form of sharing and coping with crisis.

The Mendit Research Lab activities and initiatives have demonstrated the potential of mending as an art and design strategy, sustainable practice, pedagogical and community building tool and a form of activism, silent protest and resistance.

For the GFA24, in the first part of our hosting, we are talking about the importance of clothing repair practices historically as well as in contemporary Russian contexts, and sharing our experiences and insights from expeditions, mending sessions in museums, cultural centers and online and offline research residencies.

In the second part, each member of the Mendit Research Lab shares her take on clothing repair in the context of embroidery, upcycling, vintage clothing, wardrobe research, local communities, therapy and more:

– Liudmila and mending research potential
– Asya and the narratives of her vintage garments
– Elena and the history of total remading in own clothing brand
– Galya and her therapeutic embroidery
– Irina and long-term relationships
– Lisa and her mending witchcraft
– Nina and her favorite stains
– Sveta and new life of second hand dress

Even though we can’t save the world, we can try to mend it!

Watch the full recording on the GFA Youtube channel.