Objets d’Étude: The Politics of the Study Collection in the Fashion Museum

Objets d’Étude: The Politics of the Study Collection in the Fashion Museum was an exhibition designed in collaboration with the Fashion Museum of Antwerp (MoMu).

The exhibition explored the politics of the fashion museum, investigating the role of the study collection, a collection of fashion objects that are imperfect, often irreparably damaged or stained, and that are not integrated into the main collections, as they do not meet the selection criteria of perfection. To prepare the exhibition, our MA students traveled from Paris to Antwerp for a two-day private workshop at MoMu, where they met MoMu’s staff and worked with them to examine and select pieces from their study collection. Afterward students spent several months preparing the exhibition, which addressed the value and institutional use of garments and proposed alternative ways to discuss the poetics of imperfection in museums.