People with disabilities have a long tradition of altering clothing — most of which is designed for the mass market — for their own needs. The “hacking” of normative garments is often done to make them more accommodating to non-normative bodies, but it’s also an essential expression of identity, known as “cripping,” says Megan Strickfaden, a University of Alberta professor of human ecology.
To highlight a range of cripping possibilities, Strickfaden and a group of students from across the university have launched an exhibit called [Re]making the Unmade: Cripping Identities through Disabled Everyday Clothing, running until Feb. 28 in the front foyer of the Human Ecology Building.
The seven mannequins featured in the exhibit were made from 3D scans of real bodies, says Strickfaden, to foreground their unique qualities.
“This exhibition celebrates who people are, rather than who they’re not,” she says. “Through garments, it shows the audience that disability is really something quite interesting, rather than something to hide.”