We know them from the Oktoberfest or perhaps from our grandparents' wardrobe: traditional costumes! But what are traditional costumes? Originally, the term 'traditional costume' basically described everything that was worn - not only in relation to clothing, but also to hairstyles, for example, as the synonym 'hairstyle' still reveals today. In the course of the 19th century, the term changed in connection with the emergence of the cultural concept of a fixed and recognisable national or regional costume as a supposedly unchanging, legible counterpart to fast-moving (everyday) fashion. Since the 1970s, however, this ideologically charged, 'invented tradition' has been critically scrutinised by cultural studies research.

A look at the individual objects shows that there was just as much change as there was creative freedom and individual modification of supposedly strict rules. Furthermore, traditional costumes can be viewed as a global and transcultural phenomenon rather than just a regional one.

A co-operation with the Museum Bückeburg on research into early traditional costume in Schaumburg has prompted us to look for objects in the STAK's holdings that can be categorised as 'traditional costume'. In doing so, however, we would like to consciously look at what can be told beyond this categorisation based on the objects. This exhibition is therefore less about traditional costume as a concept and more about the 'surplus', i.e. alternative levels of meaning of the objects and their object biographies. Based on this, we are focussing on different aspects: For example, on the modification of bodies, on travel souvenirs or on DIY practices. In this way, we want to show that many different stories can always be told based on objects - and that different perspectives can also be taken on supposedly rigid concepts such as traditional costumes!

Curators: Klara von Lindern, Veronika Dawydow

Duration: 21.01.2025 - 25.03.2025

Collection in focus: Everyday Textile Culture Collection