Finissage Elke Pikkemaat - Bildende Kunst

In the organizer's words:

The franz.K gives art a place in the public space.
Spray, graphic and visual local artists display large-format artworks on the franz.K building wall in a four-month rotation.

Two works by Reutlingen artist Elke Pikkemaat have been on display since February 2025.

The central work in this exhibition deals with one of the most tragic events in the modern textile industry: the collapse of the Rana Plaza textile factory in Savar, Bangladesh, in 2013. This disaster claimed the lives of 1,135 people, mainly women, and left 2,438 injured.

The main work: a warning and a reminder

Elke Pikkemaat dealt with the disaster artistically with impressive symbolism. She sewed 1,135 black mother-of-pearl buttons - in memory of the workers who were killed - and 2,438 white mother-of-pearl buttons, representing the injured, onto a blackout blind from the Second World War.

From these buttons she formed the unmistakable message: "Fuck Fast Fashion". This work is both a powerful reminder of the victims and a critical warning to the global fashion system, whose practices endanger human lives in the Global South. It questions the effects of the fashion industry on the economy, the environment and society. The art wall will display this image until April 16. The date was chosen deliberately, as the factory collapse happened in April 2013.

The finissage begins with a welcome by Sarah Petrasch (franz.K) and a personal introduction to the work by Elke Pikkemaat.

A special supporting program will take place directly after the finissage , at 8 p.m. in the franz.K hall byand with the Reutlingen University Texoversum, which will address the topic of sustainability in fashion at a discussion event.
The aim is to provide space for reflection and exchange on the possibilities of promoting responsible and sustainable fashion production.