When I was appointed Artistic Director of the Centre of Contemporary Art in Torun in 2010, I proposed a programme that aimed to coherently address themes such as interdisciplinary research, environmental awareness, art and science, and similar topics, with the goal of giving this new institution a clear programmatic identity.

Some exhibitions were organised as part of a larger thematic whole. 
The “Spaceship Earth” opened an area that I called “Expanding Art’s Boundaries”. 
Within this section, an exhibition titled “The Fourth State Of Water: From Micro To Macro” was curated by Victoria Vesna, featuring artists, scientists, and activists who work around the theme of water [https://artsci.ucla.edu/events/4th-state-water-micro-macro].
The following one was “Wonderingmode,” which I curated, possibly as a first in a series of meetings designed to bring together curators, creatives, and other players in the experimental fashion field. 
This first edition remained the only one, but it was nonetheless rich in content. 
During the setup of the exhibition, we organised talks and presentations in which Tomoko Hayashi, Kim Hagelind and Minna Palmqvist took part. 
For the European Night of Museums, we organised a symposium and public programme divided into two sessions. One was called “Fashion: Show & Display”, focusing on fashion curation practices with Kaat Debo and Helena Hertov. The other was entitled “Expanding Fashion’s Boundaries” and involved Stefan Siegel, Marcin Różyc, Bogomir Doringer, and KRJST (Justine de Moriamé & Erika Schillebeeckx), stressing the possibilities and spaces for emerging creatives interested in experimental forms of fashion making. 
The exhibition's catalogue was also designed as a sort of “reader” in which I re-edited and republished interviews with fashion curators that I was conducting for Cura magazine. 

When I began working on this project, I realised that none of the relevant local museums dedicated attention to fashion and fashion-related research. It can be considered a first exhibition of this kind in a contemporary art institution in Poland. 

It was very rewording to receive an award for the best exhibition of the year from Marcin Szczelina and his Architecture Snob [https://archisnob.com/] magazine.

2013

WONDERINGMODE PANEL FASHION CURATING

From the press release for two panels:

“Fashion: Show & Display” - a panel on Fashion Curation, with Kaat Debo and Helena Hertov

“Expanded Field of Fashion” - a panel about spaces for emerging designers, with Bogomir Doringer, Stefan Siegel, Marcin Różyc, and KRJST (Justine de Moriamé & Erika Schillebeeckx)

Curated by: Dobrila Denegri and CoCA curatorial team

For the finissage of the exhibition “Wonderingmode”, there will be free entry to a series of special events in conjunction with the European Night of Museums on 18th May, when CoCA will remain open until 12 pm.

“Wonderingmode” is an exhibition that, for the first time in a Polish art institution, explored and presented some of the most innovative and experimental practices in contemporary fashion. 
This is the second instalment in the “Expanding Boundaries” exhibition series, which CoCA in Toruń launched in 2012 with the show “Fourth State of Water: From Micro to Macro,” dedicated to the dialogue between art, science, and environmental activism. “Wonderingmode” explores intersections between visual and applied aspects of art, with particular emphasis on the concept of “fashion beyond clothes, " highlighting the work of pioneering fashion designers like Hussein Chalayan and Iris van Herpen, as well as emerging cutting-edge designers, architects, and artists such as Daniel Widrig, Ruth Hogben, Yuima Nakazato, Marloes Ten Bhomer, Tomoko Hayashi, Naomi Filmer, Anna-Nicole Zeiche, Minna Palmqvist, Emilia Tikka, Mina Lundgren, Kim Hagelind, Ana Rajcevic, and Bogomir Doringer.

In conjunction with the exhibition “Wonderingmode”, CoCA Torun is organising an intensive programme for the Night of Museums on 17th and 18th May, featuring a series of panels and presentations involving renowned fashion curators and fashion theoreticians active internationally. They will discuss new approaches in curating and presenting fashion within both traditional and unconventional contexts: from museums to the web or public spaces. 

Program of events:
Friday, 17th of May, from 18.30 till 20.00 in the cinema

“FASHION: SHOW & DISPLAY”

The first session of the panel is dedicated to the theme of fashion curating, which will be discussed by:
- Kaat Debo, director of MoMU – Fashion Museum, Antwerp
- Helena Hertov, founder of Fashionplay, Stockholm
and moderated by Dobrila Denegri, curator of the exhibition “Wonderingmode”

In the field of contemporary art, the figure and role of the curator have gained new relevance since the 1990s, making curating not only a practice but also a topic of theoretical reflection. Since fashion began “conquering” art spaces and museums in the late ‘90s with increasing frequency, it seems natural and necessary to address the question of showcasing and displaying fashion items within the context of the exhibition, focusing attention on the curatorial approaches and agendas that have developed since then. 

With the panel entitled “Fashion: Show & Display”, CoCA Torun aims to explore diverse experiences of exhibiting fashion within both institutional and alternative contexts. 
It will include contributions of Kaat Debo, director of one of the most avant-garde fashion museums, founded in Antwerp, a centre of what is known as experimental and conceptual fashion. Kaat Debo curated exhibitions of renowned designers such as Maison Martin Margiela, Bernhard Willhelm, and Walter Van Beirendonck, as well as numerous others, and she will discuss the contextualization of designers’ work through the medium of exhibition. 
Helena Hertov is a designer and curator who challenges conventional formats of exhibiting fashion, and she will present projects that involve fashion within a wider, socially engaged framework.  

Saturday, 18th of May, from 17.30 till 21.00 in the cinema

“EXPANDED FIELD OF FASHION”

17.30 - 18.15

- Bogomir Doringer, artist and fashion designer (Belgrade/Amsterdam/Vienna) - presentation of “Fashion and Despair” and other projects in which fashion is addressed from a critical and socially engaged point of view

18.30 - 20.00

The Second session of the panel is dedicated to the theme of fashion presentations on a wide set of platforms, which will be discussed by:

- Stefan Siegel, founder of NOT JUST A LABEL, London
- Marcin Różyc, writer and fashion journalist, Warsaw
and moderated by Dobrila Denegri, curator of the exhibition Wonderingmode

20.15 - 21.00

KRJST: Justine de Moriamé (Champion) & Erika Schillebeeckx (Limal), Belgium - presentation of a duo of designers highly praised for their innovative work born from the meeting, or perhaps confrontation, between two cultures. On the one hand, KRJST takes its inspiration from the silent nature of Catholicism, exploring its iconography, symbols, and figures. On the other hand, it draws on hippie culture and a desire for self-expression and subculture. 

Within the session of lectures and discussions entitled “Expanded Field of Fashion”, CoCA Torun will present young artists/designers who approach fashion both as a discourse and as a terrain of experimentation in material and conceptual senses. It will pay particular attention to the theme of new potential platforms for showing or promoting fashion and creativity of young designers, through the contribution of three very different, but interconnected perspectives: the one of Stefan Siegel, founder of Not Just A Label, the online resource tool which gathers information about more than 6000 designers spread across 88 countries. NJAL is a global showroom where trend scouts, fashion insiders, and stylists can source talent, and its founder, Stefan Siegel, will discuss this unique platform that spans the World Wide Web. The second will be Marcin Różyc, a journalist and author of the recently published book "The New Polish Fashion", a compilation of texts that explore fashion as a significant cultural field. He will provide insight into new fashion phenomena, also connected to digital media, that have recently emerged in Poland.

Exhibition “Wonderingmode” explores and presents cutting-edge research in the domains of art, design, fashion, and architecture, as well as their mutual crossovers. It is imagined as a visual journey through a variety of imaginary worlds created at the intersection of different domains of creativity and expressive languages. 

The work of Hussein Chalayan constitutes the point of departure of the project, as Chalayan is one of the contemporary designers who very accurately and directly relate to the theme, which is the core of this exhibition: the hybridisation of knowledge and productive procedures as a way towards innovation. Besides Chalayan's work, CoCA presents works by the most innovative and daring designers of the emerging generation, such as Iris van Herpen, Daniel Widrig, Marloes Ten Bhomer, Yuima Nakazato, and others whose creations can be described as true hybrids, able to transcend the parameters of categorisation that have been valid until now. 
Their works question the differences between wearable and sculptural, synthetic and organic. Where is the border, if there should be one, between the categories through which we search to classify and define different domains of creativity?

“Wonderingmode” focuses attention on some of the most innovative young designers whose work transcends any conventional definition of fashion in favour of those creative processes that have an outcome with a much wider span of elements than just a garment. In some instances, these outcomes can be defined as hybrid objects that evolve and revolve around the body; in others, they can be visualisations, concepts and processes which spread the notion of fashion in different directions, such as art, design, architecture and all other forms that come out of the meeting between these disciplines. 

The “Wonderingmode” exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue featuring essays about artists and interviews on the theme of fashion curating, which involve some of the leading international figures, including Valerie Steele, Judith Clark, Maria Luisa Frisa, Linda Loppa, Kaat Debo, Sabine Seymour, Helena Hertov, and others. 

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