Exposition - Assemblage, el tiempo que nos tomó

The following text serves as the founding statement for the exhibition "Assemblage, el tiempo que nos tomó," an encounter between ceramics and clothing. This exhibition reflects on the interconnections between the materiality of clay and fabric, and the human body, exploring the ways in which society shapes and molds both through time. The exhibition invites us to reflect on how these two crafts—ceramics and fashion—interact, resist, and transform in relation to the body and the environment.

Assemblage, el tiempo que nos tomó

The similarity between the human body and a ceramic vessel is so evident that even the language of pottery reflects it: we talk about feet, belly, buttocks, arms, neck, mouth, lips, ears, spouts, and openings to describe its shapes. Ceramics not only imitates the body, but it also extends and accompanies it. Clothing, besides offering protection, imposes rules and hierarchies, particularly shaping the female body. However, as clay sometimes escapes the potter’s will, so do bodies resist.

The women of past generations who carried water in their jugs or went out to wash clothes found in these activities a moment to gather, converse, and share among women, away from the norms of domestic life. Similarly, while clothing may be subject to judgment and restriction, many women have managed to transform it into a symbol of resistance, an instrument of expression and liberation.

The introduction of water pipes and the washing machine marked the beginning of women’s emancipation, relegating the jug to the role of a mere decorative object. At the same time, the industrialization and mass production of textiles made cheap clothing accessible, but at the expense of the environment, exploitation, and the invisibilization of textile workers, the majority of whom are women.

Both the potter and the seamstress have passed down their knowledge through generations, through precise and patient gestures that shape the material. Each ceramic piece and each sewn garment carries with it the memory of those who have created them, reflecting a legacy of craftsmanship and care.

Industrialization and fast fashion have accelerated production rhythms, causing items to expire in a few weeks and end up in landfills. We want to recover the connection with creation: to know the hands that have shaped each piece, the conditions under which they have worked, the time and dedication they have invested, to make their labor visible, and to value their contribution as an essential part of every creation.