Taken from Rapha

After the tragedy in Bangladesh, my friend, Angelina, made the comment that "if this happened in Bangladesh, can you imagine what is happening in China?" It was very much rhetorical, with no room for China to possibly show its good side within the fashion industry. However, many of us would be surprised by the big names in ethical fashion that use Chinese factories. Heard of a certain sportswear company by the name of PATAGONIA? Or what about the pioneering STEWART+BROWN? 
 
When we see or hear "Made in China" we automatically envision the worst. We think of factories packed with underpaid, and, often, underaged workers, poor quality items and cheap cheap cheap. However, all is not lost in China. With its supernova presence on the world stage, it is hard for China to hide in the depths of its vast territory. With an ever present need for transparency, there have been small shifts in what is happening on the ground. What is even more interesting are the lengths some manufacturers are taking to not only be major players in the consumerism game, but to also be recognised for their ethical stance. 

I love the concept of Song Dong's WASTE NOT exhibition, which I have seen twice now--once in New York and the second in London earlier last year. As much as I loved it, my fiance found it to be his worst nightmare. The clutter and hoarder-esque tendencies of the exhibit overwhelmed his senses and drove him into a slight hysteria (sorry honey). However, whilst he saw junk, I saw a cultural paradigm that caused many Chinese to see the almost never-ending potential in items. It also made me think of how we engage with items, and how we are sometimes too eager to discard them. Now it is also part of my Series on Waste.

The exhibition is based on the art of saving and re-using things, which is in line with the Chinese principle of wu jin qi yong – 'waste not'. However, the exhibition is not merely a reflection of this principle, but it is also used as a mechanism for encouraging a familial bond for the artist. After his father died in 2002, Dong collaborated with his mother, who had been collecting items for five decades, to create this installation which comprises of over 10,000 items. These items range from buttons, tubes of toothpaste, plastic bottles, and her husbands old clothes (to name a few). So what does this artistic form of hoarding teach us?...