SCHWARZ ≠ SCHWARZ. Black dyeing in Flux
An exhibition exploring the process of blackening, its site-specific potential and the challenges it faces today.
Co-curator: Claudine Brignot
Artistic research: Pauline Agustoni
In collaboration with students mkmkm the Fashion Marketing and Sustainable Fashion Design and Management courses at the BSP Business and Law School, Berlin
on 4 June 2026, 6 pm
Opening and panel discussion with Pauline Agustoni (designer and artist), Iwan Bischof (Head of the Swiss Textile College STF) and Malu Lücking (designer, studiomalu), moderated by Claudine Brignot (fashion designer and Head of the Fashion Marketing programme at the Business & Law School BSP, Berlin)
Drinks to follow
on 4 July and 5 July 2026
«Situated Dyeing» workshops on dyeing fabrics using local resources, led by Pauline Agustoni (designer and artist)
We will publish the relevant details about the workshops in our newsletter and on our website on 21st of May. Registration will open from that date.
on 20 September 2026, 4 pm
Closing event featuring the live-action performance «Schichten – Rauschen» by kappenthuler/federer and Martin Gschwend
To mark the 20th anniversary of the Sitterwerk Foundation, the exhibition «SCHWARZ ≠ SCHWARZ» draws on the industrial history of the Sitter Valley. The present location of the art library and materials archive was one a plant for black-dyeing. The exhibition focuses on contemporary awareness and knowledge about this process, as well as the aspects which are typically overlooked in everyday life. The exhibition allows visitors to experience sensorily, the enormous variety of dark color shades, as well as the differences in materials and processes. It links archival material, artifacts, samples and contemporary exhibits with current issues relating to sustainability, global supply chains and environmental responsibility.
A large-scale installation makes the alchemy of the process physically tangible: by experimenting with local resources such as gall apples, onion skins and oak bark, shades of colour of profound complexity are created. Even mud from the River Sitter is used in the mud-dyeing technique, transferring the immediate surroundings of the Sitterworks directly onto the fabric. The knowledge gained in this way is preserved as a living resource: once the exhibition has ended, the material samples on display will be permanently added to the materials archive.
The exhibition is supported by: the Arnold Billwiller Foundation, the Dr Georg and Josi Guggenheim Foundation, the Metrohm Foundation, Pro Helvetia, the Swiss Arts Council, Walter and Verena Spühl-Foundation and the Corymbo Foundation. The black dyeing workshops are made possible by the City of St.Gallen / Gemeinsam wirkt.