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Import – Export, Friperie

This book brings together a selection of photographs by artist Mekhitar Garabedian, documenting the warehouse of his late father’s company, Melantex, which exported second-hand clothing from Belgium to the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. The images inspired a one-year sculptural intervention by Garabedian, commissioned by the Antwerp Public Art Collection.
Import—Export, Friperie tells a compelling personal and collective story of how displacement can be turned into economic livelihood while creating connections between old and new homes, languages, and textiles.
The photographs are accompanied by an in-depth conversation between Garabedian and curator Samuel Saelemakers about the relationship between photography and sculpture, public representation, and diasporic thinking.

Photographer(s): Text:
Mekhitar Garabedian Mekhitar Garabedian and Samuel Saelemakers
Format: Pages:
22,5 x 27,5 cm 128
Design: Images:
Sara De Bondt 95
Publisher: Binding:
Occasional Papers Swiss binding
Printer: Printing:
die Keure, Brugge
Date: Edition:
May, 2023 1000
Place:
London, UK