“This is one of my favourite projects,” says Lotte Kristoferitsch, pointing to a pair of Raschschuhe, traditional shoes made of forest grass, harvested once a year from a secret location in Austria, then dried, braided and woven into shoes using wooden lasts. Keeping the location of the grass secret is deliberate, preventing the overuse of common, community resources.
Additionally, it is an example of tangible living heritage: the craft of making these shoes is culturally passed down and practised by only 12 Austrian women. “It is very fashionable. Doesn’t look like it, but Vivienne Westwood wore them; her husband is from that region,” laughs Lotte, the curator of IMAGINE: Coral Reef, Regenerative Design, a travelling exhibition being held at the Science Gallery Bengaluru till May 4.
These sculptures are based on the open design instructions from the project Crochet Coral Reef by Christine and Margaret Wertheim | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
We stride past some other exhibits — a lamp created out of traditional table mats and trivets woven out of Hungarian cattail, a collection of traditionally cast aluminium vessels and a decidedly wispy dress made of textile waste and skin-friendly binders, before stopping in front of what is clearly the pièce de résistance: a row of statesque sculptures of corals, which glow eerily in the dimmed room.
