The work overall is a versatile garment that can serve as practical workwear or as a stylish designer piece. In Metamorphosis of Workwear, it becomes a canvas for industrial culture. Eighteen artists from six European cities will engage with the past, present, and future of Chemnitz, Gabrovo, Łódź, Manchester, Mulhouse, and Tampere—cities connected by a shared history of industrial rise and decline. This will inspire artistic reinterpretations of traditional workwear such as the overall, nylon apron, and work coat.
The project is a collaboration between the Chemnitz Museum of Industry (Germany), the Central Museum of Textiles Łódź (Poland), and the Christo and Jeanne-Claude Center Gabrovo (Bulgaria). Additional project partners include the Finnish Workers’ Museum Werstas and Proforma in Manchester. The Textile Printing Museum and the Motoco Art Space in Mulhouse support the project.
Artistic director is Dresden-based artist Wiete Sommer. She is a designer and curator working at the intersection of design, art, and science. Her collaborative projects are characterized by an interdisciplinary approach and an anthropological perspective. In her artistic practice, she employs a wide range of media, including film editing, performance, craft, and fashion collections. As a fashion designer, Wiete Sommer investigates how fashion can foster social connections and serve as a tool for exchange and discourse. Her work focuses on New Work, gender, identity, and social and ecological sustainability.
From January to June 2025, three artists from each city—Chemnitz, Łódź, Gabrovo, Tampere, Manchester, and Mulhouse—will design fashion objects inspired by local industrial heritage and culture. Each garment will reflect the industrial history of the respective city, while also considering the city’s present and future. Meetings with experts and site visits to industrial locations are planned to support this process.
Wiete Sommer will guide the workshops and incorporate the results into a performance and exhibition. The performances will take place in September and November 2025 at the Chemnitz Museum of Industry, with the exhibition presenting the results in the interim. The performance and exhibition will travel to Łódź and Gabrovo in early 2026.
In addition to the artistic works, the voices of people from Chemnitz, Łódź, and Gabrovo will play a key role. During open afternoons, artists and the public will come together to exchange experiences and discuss changes in work within their cities.
The project runs from November 2024 to June 2026 and is funded by the EU under the Creative Europe program. It is coordinated by the Chemnitz Museum of Industry as part of the activities of the European Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025.
Press contacts
Chemnitz Museum of Industry
Almut Hertel
hertel@industriemuseum-chemnitz.de
0049 371 3676 135
Central Museum of Textiles Łódź
Sylwia Meyer-Olejarczyk
s.meyer@cmwl.pl
0048 509 360 945
Christo and Jeanne-Claude Center Gabrovo
Margarita Dorovska
m.dorovska@gmail.com
00359 879 26 27 00
Chemnitz Museum of Industry
Where once iron casting and mechanical engineering shaped people’s lives, a restored museum complex now demonstrates the successful repurposing of a protected industrial site. Housed in a factory built in 1907 by Hermann and Alfred Escher, the Chemnitz Museum of Industry features a permanent exhibition on Saxony’s industrial history. Displayed are industrial and consumer goods, everyday items, and luxury objects produced and used in Saxony for more than two centuries. Highlights include the Textile Street and numerous machines in operation, from the historic transmission workshop to modern industrial robots. Temporary exhibitions explore various aspects of industrial culture. A diverse program of events and extensive museum education offerings complete the museum experience.
www.industriemuseum-chemnitz.de
The Central Museum of Textiles in Łódź presents textiles across a wide spectrum of meanings and ideas. It connects the city’s rich textile industry history with contemporary art. The museum offers exhibitions, educational activities, and interdisciplinary research projects. Its impressive collection includes textile art, fashion, and objects documenting the history of the textile industry. Since 1972, the CMT has hosted the renowned International Triennale of Tapestry.
The museum is housed in the White Factory, one of the most important symbols of the city’s textile history. The complex was originally founded by Ludwik Geyer and accommodated cotton factories. Here, the first mechanized cotton spinning and weaving mills in Łódź were established, the city’s first steam engine was put into operation, and the first factory chimney was erected.
The Christo and Jeanne-Claude Center in Gabrovo is a cultural space that celebrates the life, work, and legacy of Christo and Jeanne-Claude while supporting and promoting the work of young artists and designers. The center is located in Christo’s hometown and is housed in a former textile school, reflecting the city’s industrial heritage and its influence on the artist’s continual use of fabric in his works. Over the next five years, the building will undergo extensive renovations to allow the center’s program to reach its full potential.
The center’s exhibitions have showcased the duo’s monumental projects as well as Christo’s early works, highlighting the groundbreaking use of textiles as a medium to create temporary, transformative art and to turn ordinary spaces into extraordinary experiences. The center also serves as a hub for contemporary creativity, providing artist studios and supporting collaboration and experimentation. Through workshops, film screenings, public art programs, and community engagement, it connects Gabrovo’s textile heritage with Christo’s visionary art, ensuring that the artists’ legacy continues to inspire future generations while remaining accessible and relevant to all.