International collaboration highlights NewTexEco’s approach to sustainable textile transformation

At the invitation of the organisers of the project Repair the Fabric: Healing Voices and Patterns Across Generations, Perica Savanović, Professor of Design at ArtEZ University of the Arts and lead professor within NewTexEco, delivered a keynote lecture during the project’s closing event in Belgrade. The invitation followed international interest in the e-magazine From Loose Threads to Fabric, compiled by Lucie Huiskens.

The event brought together researchers, artists and knowledge institutions from different countries to explore how textile repair can contribute to new connections between people, communities and generations.

In his lecture, Savanović presented NewTexEco’s vision for sustainable change within the textile sector. Rather than focusing on a predefined transition from A to B, he emphasised an open process of collective transformation.

According to Savanović, creating a more sustainable textile sector requires more than technological innovation alone. It also calls for new forms of collaboration between designers, researchers, businesses, policymakers and users. By bringing together different perspectives, space is created for new insights, experimentation and future possibilities.

This approach resonated strongly with the central theme of Repair the Fabric, where repair is understood not only as a technical act but also as a metaphor for strengthening social and professional networks.

As part of the project, Savanović also contributed the essay New Textile Ecosystems – Integral Design for Sustainable Transformations. In the essay, he describes how NewTexEco is working towards a new textile ecosystem in which design, technology, research and entrepreneurship come together.

The essay demonstrates how practice-based research can contribute to sustainable change by bringing diverse stakeholders together around concrete challenges. Rather than developing a single ideal solution, the focus is on collectively exploring and shaping new possibilities for a circular and regenerative textile sector.

Projects within NewTexEco, including Knit2Last and Care & Repair, are highlighted as examples of this approach. They illustrate how research, experimentation and collaboration can contribute to new materials, circular business models and longer product lifecycles.

The visit to Belgrade also provided an opportunity to explore future international partnerships. The former Yugoslav region has a rich textile heritage, raising questions about how regional textile economies might be revitalised as an alternative to global production systems.

Although the event mainly attracted representatives from knowledge institutions and the arts sector rather than companies, there was considerable interest in continued collaboration. Several organisations expressed their interest in exploring new European research and innovation projects together with NewTexEco.

The project Repair the Fabric: Healing Voices and Patterns Across Generations explored over a six-month period how repair, mending and textile transformation can contribute to renewed connections between people, communities and generations. Alongside exhibitions and lectures, the project resulted in an international publication featuring contributions from researchers, designers and artists on topics including circular economies, textile heritage, natural dyeing and design for sustainability.

The project Repair the Fabric: Healing Voices and Patterns Across Generations was initiated, realised and produced by anonymous said; a Belgrade-based organisation working at the intersection of art, culture and social engagement. The organisation is also responsible for the production and publication of [O]GLED, an art magazine and platform dedicated to contemporary visual art.

The project was implemented within the Financial Support Programme for Civil Society Organizations (FSTP), in cooperation with the Local Democracy Agency – LDA Subotica and the Novi Sad Foundation – European Capital of Culture. The project was supported by the European Union, the Museum of Applied Arts Belgrade and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Belgrade.

Image credits: Tamara Stojanović