EXHIBITION ARCHIVE

WOVEN LEGACIES (HÉRITAGES TISSÉS): September 27- October 11 2025

Presented as part of the official program of Montreal Fashion Week 2025, Woven Legacies is a textile and installation-based exhibition exploring African and diasporic fashion as a living cultural practice shaped by craft, authorship, and ongoing collaboration.

Hosted at the BATIK BOUTIK studio, the exhibition reflects the role of diasporic designers not only as makers, but as cultural educators and archivists who document textile knowledge, contextualize heritage, and give due credit to the artisans behind each material and process.

Through textile displays, visual installations, and process-focused storytelling, Woven Legacies shifts the focus away from finished garments alone to highlight the labour, material histories, and cross-continental collaborations that shape contemporary craft-led fashion. The exhibition also examined how traditional practices such as reuse, small-batch production, and slow, made-to-order methods have historically functioned as sustainable systems long before sustainability became a formal industry discourse.

By presenting textiles within an exhibition context, the project positions fashion as a cultural archive and educational medium, encouraging viewers to reflect on garment value, craftsmanship, and authorship in a fast fashion economy where production is often disconnected from origin.

Woven Legacies features selected works and archival materials from Batik Boutik, Tamalà, and FAD Agency, forming part of a broader reflection on African fashion’s growing global visibility and the evolving place of diasporan, craft-led designers within the ethical fashion space.

Curator: FAD Agency

Creative Direction: Batik Boutik

Production: Kibaru Studio

Contributor: Tamalà