The Goodbye Prague Collection
I arrived in Prague in September 2020 in the middle of the pandemic*, with only one giant suitcase. Now five years later I’m leaving the city (the road awaits) an instead of one suitcase, the objects** that I own here would barely even fit into a van. Amongst them many many bags of fabrics: treasures from the fleamarket, leftover deadstock pieces, clothes from friends that they didn’t need anymore. I’ve always been a hoarder**** of objects, fabrics espcecially seem to follow me.***** Instead of carrying these piles of textiles with me I decided to spread them in the city instead: to upcycle everything into a small collection of clothes. One last love letter to the city that feels like home like no other place.
* The city was empty, in the absence of the noise, the crowds, the smell of trdlos, stag parties, selfies and poodles of beer - it was only me and the city. Watching the swans in the river, long late night walks down the silent Neruda street, and a white horse grazing on Petrin.
*** I moved to Prague to complete a master degree in directing of Devised and Object Theater at DAMU. (an old, light pink building right in the center of the city.)
**** Jane Benett
***** I inherited my love for sewing from my mom, my grandmother and my great grandmother, a heriteage that came with piles of fabrics from the previous generations.
harlequinn dress
the fabric of this dress is from
- green: and old T-shirt of mine from a second-hand store in Budapest (Cream, Blaha)
- black: a very T-shirt of mine (H&M?)
- blue: a T-shirt that Katharina gave me and probably belonged to her ex
- turquoize with 86 print: a T-shirt from Textile House (the one opposite to Veletržní Palác)
- white: a very old T-shirt of mine (H&M?)
- grey with NASA print. an old T-shirt Michal gave me.
blue shorts
the fabric of these shorts is from a shirt I bought in Textile House (the one opposite to Veletržní Palác) The shirt is originally from a company called micronclean, and it could have belonged to a cleaner, a nurse or generally anyone working in sterile conditions.
harlequinn bag
the white fabric I bought to make sails/flags/frames for Tornado Watch, the red is a leftover fabric from my Aunt’s collection that is significant because a few years ago I had made a pair of pants from this same fabric that was my favorite thing to wear while I lived in Prague and eventually became my costume for River Room. The blue lining is from Textile Mountain.
Jana Pants