Total number of visitors: 180
Number of artists: 10
On the 23rd of february, Framer Framed hosted the exhibition ‘Homies’ by art collective ‘We Sell Reality’ in collaboration with artists Wouter van der Laan and Esther Meijer. Organized by We Sell Reality and Elke Uitentuis, Rijksakademie Social Practice Workshop coordinator. The opening included a clothing shop and a live auction, to present the ‘Homies’ fashion line, conceptualised and produced by members of We Sell Reality during their guest residency at the Rijksakademie.
During the opening, We Sell Reality inaugurated their clothing shop at Framer Framed, where visitors could look at, try on and buy clothes from the ‘Homies’ brand. The eclectic, warm, humorous, and beautiful fashion line of We Sell Reality was presented in a shop design inspired by the shape and colours of an iceberg, symbolizing the rather cold welcome refugees experience. On the same night, We Sell Reality organised an auction to contribute to GROND, a future home and shared workspace where the collective will come together and create in length of time. This is a big achievement for a collective that has been forcefully nomadic for such a long time.
“‘Homies’ is a fashion line sparked by fighting injustices. It explores the notions of home, from the perspective of being without a home. It is inspired by memories related to homes left behind, and by the search for a new place to land. ‘Homies’ is about how friends can become substitutes to survive feelings of not being grounded. ‘Homies’ is a way out of the misery. “Homies’ is a home in itself. Homies combine the old with the new. The collective mixes styles without holding back. The unapologetic freedom that speaks out of the fashion line is a testimony of resilience. With pride and joy, members of the collective create and present these fabulous designs. We encourage you to wear them out loud! Wearing ‘Homies’, means solidarity with all who are displaced, and an identification with the ones unrecognised.”
We Sell Reality
We Sell Reality is a social rebellion label that is set up as a collective with an open-source character. We Sell Reality makes products and installations and creates performative interventions in public spaces. The team consists of around 15 social designers. Most members of the collective came here as refugees and are in limbo. The makeup of the team can change throughout various projects, those who would like to join is welcome.
We Sell Reality reflects on the paradox of closed borders for one and open borders for the other. For immigrants without wealth, these borders prove to be almost impossible to pass. Whereas the same borders are easy to pass for someone with a European passport, both physical and for trading purposes. We Sell Reality makes visible the dependency that occurs for some as a consequence of this paradox. The We Sell Reality team develops products and presentations with the aim of providing insight into the lives of undocumented refugees.
Projects by We Sell Reality give expression to a failing Europe and its asylum policy, but also to people’s will to live, disrupt, pride and love. We Sell Reality simultaneously makes the reality of vulnerable survivors visible and seductive. Where the market and the survival of the fittest apply, We Sell Reality shows the reality of people in the most vulnerable position.