Through time, manás appearance has been the physical expression of his political, social, and economic status. In addition, the arts, especially visual arts, have been the barometer for changes in all spheres of life through history. Messages and common expressions, revelations and anticipations come together through clothing, both for the social classes of ancient times as well as todayrsquo;s large masses of fashion followers.
Several years ago, in the Wardrobe Specialty labs of Havanarsquo;s Top Institute of Design (ISDI is the Spanish acronym), a new experimental workshop named RECICLARTE was created, a kind of symbiosis between the shortage of materials that face this field in our country and the ethical and aesthetic worries of teachers and students involved.
It is well-known that the dynamics of modern life have made it such that we have become societies of consumption, producing high volumes of waste which drastically upsets the balance of our ecosystem. This topic is an unresolved reality. The absence of solid laws and efficient infrastructures for waste management, which, although very costly on the one hand, continue to be a bleeding wound from a conscientious and social standpoint.
The tests that are done at the laboratories of the ISDI evaluate the possibility of recycling materials that generally make up large amounts of waste and explore their physical, tactile and expressive possibilities to turn them into something creative. In addition, materials originally intended for clothing of a dramatic character, yet whose intrinsic utility can be applied to things used in every day life, can be transformed into both useful and attractive objects that are part of our environment.
RECICLARTE, above all, turns daily materials into real objects of pleasure and visual beauty, loaded with symbolisms and connotations, where art and design are interwoven to please the senses.