ra was initiated in antwerp as an enterprise to support young artists + independent fashion
designers.
we have begun a series of international exhibitions to carry their unique messages to a wider
cultural sphere. the common thread between all our artists is their use of fashion as a medium to
express their worlds – creating pieces that transform their wearer, often crossing into the realms of
wearable art.
from quiet beginnings in the antwerp academy or studies across the globe, each creator offers a
strong personal vision utilising artisanal techniques + experimental textiles to realise their one-off
garments. supporting their medium of fashion, all of our collaborators present various multimedia +
installation art that continues to tell their own stories – through photography, sculpture, video art,
drawing, painting or collections of found objects.
collaborators
narelle dore (australia)
paula selby avellaneda (argentina)
daniel andresen (germany)
kia utzon (denmark)
romain brau (france)
dimitri afanasenko (ukraine)
elise gettliffe (france)
anna kushnerova (russia) + hiroko hirasawa (japan)
lliure briz (spain)
irene alvarez (spain)
sayaka yamamoto (japan)
pierre-antoine vettorello + marie le traon (france)
hicham berrada (morocco)
sophie gaucher (france)
ra
kloosterstraat 13
antwerp 2000
belgium
www.ra13.be info@ra13.be
phone: +32 (0) 3292 3780 fax: +32 (0) 3292 3789

SS11 exhibition, paris

narelle dore
narelle dore projects a bright aura of quirky + organic energy through her intricate collections of textural women’s
daywear. harking from perth in western australia, narelle has studied at the antwerp academy, before launching her
line independently in antwerp. her works hold a homespun quality, with techniques such as crochet, macramé +
delicate cutouts. her silhouettes include traditional smock-shaped dresses, cropped blouses + paneled skirts, +
handmade fabric jewellery.
for ss11, narelle has been researching magical salt gardens, japanese boro garments, house plants such as the
snake plant (sansevieria trifasciata) + swiss cheese plant / delicious monster (monstera deliciosa), all influencing
her newest laser cutting + engraving techniques. alongside her collection, narelle will be experimenting with growing
magic gardens within her exhibition space.
paula selby avellaneda
Argentinean-born paula selby avellaneda has recently uprooted to london, after completing her studies at the
antwerp academy in 2010. paula graduated with her collection “clean up nicely”, an adolescent nightmare of prom
queens + horror film references realised in a mish-mash of shredded + sliced fabrics. her girly-turned-goth
silhouettes were realised with both classical + experimental fabrics, such as glow-in-the-dark beading, shredded
tweeds, latex + chains.
establishing the research group house of matching colours with eva moari, paula studies fashion textile
development from her new east london ‘lab’, with a focus on creating unique pieces for performers + artists.
for the ra exhibition, paula will exhibit her graduation collection alongside a ‘hurricane-speaker’ installation.
www.houseofmatchingcolours.com
daniel andresen
german knitwear designer daniel andresen presents his second menswear collection for ss11, building upon his
extensive technical knowledge of yarn + leatherwork learnt at the antwerp academy. daniel offers a luxurious line that
fuses elegant soft lines with sportswear contrasts, for a relaxed but measured sensibility. working in a dark, shady
palette + inspired by architectural forms, daniel garners his latest inspiration from the catacombs of paris, the sandy
deserts + a night he spent in a seaside hotel. for the ra exhibition, seek his collection down the dark stairs in our
basement space.
kia utzon
danish jewellery designer kia utzon takes an unconventional approach to age-old materials, creating amber + silver
pieces that defy traditional codes entering into a futuristic realm.
usually associated with classical + tribal settings, kia takes amber to a new level, casting it as a brilliant fiery eye
amidst mechanical settings, inspired by the movement of an armadillos back.
kia has collaborated with danish fashion designer nicholas nybro jensen on a collection inspired by the danish ‘open
sandwich’, with flexible rings that mold around the finger, with slices of precious materials hinged together on silver.
romain brau
parisian menswear designer romain brau tells us he was ‘born in the sea’, and found his way on land to begin ra with
anna kushnerova, after studying at the antwerp academy. designing costumes to make people dream, romain has
developed an opulent portfolio of richly embellished pieces that reference baroque + tribal costumes with fur, feathers
+ crystals as his luxurious materials of choice. his collections can be found hanging in ra + midwest (tokyo).
for the ra exhibition, romain offers a sculptural installation alongside his spring summer 2011 menswear collection,
inspired by “marked literary inferiority” in the poems of the “satyricon” by herbert h. huxley.
www.romainbrau.com
photograph by martin bing
dimitri afanasenko
russian conceptual artist dimitri afanasenko unfolds a sensitive display of painting and installation works from his
personal journey through the decay of memory + sensory experience. dimitri completed his diploma in 2009 at the
ecole nationale supérieure des beaux arts de paris, and has recently exhibited in MoMa’s PS1 space in NY, +
london’s dover street market.
through layered expressions of decrepit and abandoned locations, dimitri builds an abstract narrative that contrasts
natural + manmade destruction, with black + white photography of his disturbed environments accented with violent
oil colours.

elise gettliffe
french designer elise gettliffe breathes a new bohemian, theatrical life into menswear – with her fantastical designs
that bring the circus to the street. graduating from the antwerp academy in 2008, elise headed to trieste for ITS#7 +
ITS#8, + has been working in antwerp ever since.
for the ra exhibition, elise offers her first capsule collection of shoes + socks for men + women, crafting moccasins by
h+ in her atelier, inspired by stars, geometry + pyrogravure.
hide a.h
hide a.h is a fashion project by hiroko hirasawa (tokyo, bunka fashion college & antwerp fashion academy)
and anna kushnerova (siberia, antwerp fashion academy). anna is director and founder of ra.
hide a.h features specific and limited womenswear collections, accessory and shoe projects.
for the ra exhibition, hide a.h offers series 2: heroes.
‘heroes’ will animate you. it is a schoolgirl fantasy – the uniform becomes a fetish. she wears a spacesuit beneath her
kimono.
www.hideah.com
lliure briz
lliure briz is a 26 year old spanish visual artist studying, living + working in antwerp, belgium. her site-specific works +
“visual operas” hold a shadowy playfulness – experimenting with light + movement, film + photography, involving a
scientific appreciation of the natural world around us, be it elements of the natural world or the human form. lliure’s
recent experimentation with fashion practice has led her to create garments with translucid fabrics + digital printing,
as well as testing different processes of treating the print image.
for the ra exhibition, lliure will project a new video work onto the walls of the space, accompanied by her textile
studies.
irene alvarez
hailing from madrid in spain, conceptual + textile artist irene alvarez studied fine arts before completing her masters
in sculpture at the royal academy of fine arts in antwerp, belgium.
irene’s illustrations and sculptural works hold a tribal, child-like appeal that reveals deeper sociopolitical questioning
upon closer inspection. weaving heavy carpet-like textiles, irene’s cartoonlike embroidery includes both subtle + overt
references to latin american art and textiles, with comments on consumerism + technology.
for the ra exhibition, irene will exhibit her latest creation – an ethnic-inspired fabric tipi.
www.irene-alvarez.com
sayaka yamamoto
japanese jewellery + industrial designer sayaka yamamoto is one half of eindhoven-based duo bcxsy. her handmade,
artisanal ranges fuse unexpected materials to create intricate objets d’art, far removed from traditional notions of
jewellery design. past projects have included rubber butterfly brooches, printed with the wing designs of genuine
species, and disney cartoon toys re-stitched into beaded necklaces.
her latest series is called collecssion, a made-up word about collecting and obsession. for the ra exhibition sayaka
will display her three new collections (second life, tuber + sketch 1 pine) – brooches inspired by the delicate world of
botany.
www.sayakayamamoto.com
pierre antoine vittorello + marie le traon
both hailing from france, pierre antoine + marie have worked together on various projects for some years, since
meeting at ENSAAMA school in paris then both pursuing further studies in the antwerp academy + brussels’ la
cambre respectively.
specialising in knitting, marie has helped pierre antoine to realise some of his most technical pieces, for “light me up”,
his graduation collection that will show at the ra exhibition.
“light me up” plays with fire – in dramatic, tribal silhouettes that explore rough ways of cutting, feathers, ebony wood +
painted beads. accompanying the collection is a stunning collection of photographs by celebrated belgian
photographer ronald stoops.
hicham berrada
24 year old artist hicham berrada was born in casablanca, morrocco + moved to paris to study at the ecole nationale
supérieure des beaux arts de paris in 2004. intrigued by the development of alchemy + the mystic sciences of the
18th century, hicham’s work crosses between artistic mediums + borrows from the analogies of swedish playwright
johan august strindberg.
“i try to work as a scientist, trying to find the wonder of a child before the world + approach our unconscious desires.”
for the ra exhibition, hicham will display his sculpture “le temps suspendu #3”.
www.hichamberrada.com
sophie gaucher
rather than hanging her works in full view on a wall, parisian artist sophie gaucher prefers “the forgotten places”,
choosing to place her ceramic sculptures, videos + illustrated works in hidden corners, on the floor + other locations
that force the viewer to search + discover.
exploring an organic + erotic vision of transfigured humans + animal creatures, sophie’s installations tend to whisper
quietly to the viewer, suggesting mythologies of macabre dance, ritual + magic.

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