⑤ Bananatex by QWSTION

QWSTION (Zürich) is a backpack brand who initiated Bananatex, an open source project. Bananatex® is a woven fabric made of Abaća fibres that offers a viable alternative to the synthetic fabrics that the majority of bags are made of today. Even though the natural canvases cannot quite match the resistance of petroleum based materials, the fabrics and level of workmanship offered is meant to hold up to years of daily use.

QWSTION collaborates with a Taiwanese yarn specialist and their already established weaving partner based in Taipei, Taiwan. The three parties partnered up to engage in the intense development and production process behind the new fabric and managed to enhance the performance of the natural fibre in the process. It is more important how you produce than where is the idea behind this self-made supply chain. The exhibition will present two functional and artistic Bananatex® Totebags from a limited edition with Kunsthaus Zürich.

The designers on show represent a long term and holistic, yet step by step approach on innovating bio-cycles. Their work renegotiates the relationship of man, technology and nature and highlights the role of transdisciplinary collaborations.

The designers work within the potentials and limitations of a new (bio)material landscape and take it upon themselves to test, develop and explore applications. Some of the studios struggle with the performance of their organic materials, while others still have a (long) way to go in the process of scaling up their promising findings.

In order to gradually shift from the petroleum based production and waste systems, and bring about systemic change, they intervene at different stages of a globalised value chain.