Ricarda Bigolin, Chantal McDonald and Christian Thompson

it was a heavy hem: patching, wearing, and carrying material identities It was a heavy hem reconfigures a c.1930s dress through techniques of repair and assemblage, positioning the garment as a site of material memory shaped by collaboration and wearing. Split at the side and shoulder seams, the original dress is patched to an enlarged double silk organza mount, transforming the silhouette while reinforcing the deteriorating cotton mesh and supporting the structure of the garment as though worn. The dress sections are secured using methods associated with textile preservation and repair. Australian five-cent coins are caught between the layers, settling into the hems of the sleeves and skirt. They introduce weight, value and historical residue, embedding a material dialogue between currency and the concealment of contested colonial histories. Created for a film by contemporary artist Christian Thompson that extends his investigations into language, voice and the cultural weight of classical form, the dress operates as a barometer of use beyond material function. Through adapted methods of patching, repair and garment-making, it was a heavy hem considers making, wearing and preservation as acts of storytelling, while the body as a site of resistance is implied through absence, trace and worn form. Bio Dr Christian Thompson AO (he/him, they/them)( Bidjara/Irish/Chinese/Australian) Dr Christian Thompson AO is a contemporary Australian artist of Bidjara, Irish, and Chinese descent. Exploring identity, sexuality, gender, race, memory, cultural hybridity, and history, his practice spans photography, video, sculpture, performance, and sound. Honoured as an AO for exceptional service to the visual arts, and as a role model for young Indigenous artists, Thompson holds a PhD (Fine Art) from Trinity College, University of Oxford, an MA (Theatre) Amsterdam School of Arts, Das Arts, MFA (Sculpture) RMIT University. He is a research affiliate, Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford, and Associate Professor Vice Chancellor's Senior Indigenous Research Fellow, RMIT University. Dr. Ricarda Bigolin (she/her, they/them)(Australian/Italian) Dr. Ricarda Bigolin is an Associate Professor Fashion Design, RMIT University. They advocate for advancing design practice and ways to break systemic inequalities in fashion, supporting diverse and marginal practices that further critical fashion and regenerative futures. Their research explores tactics to challenge how fashion is produced and consumed using arts-based and material methods, wearing and performing. Their practice ‘D&K’ produces garments, performances, exhibitions, texts and films in museums, galleries, publications and universities globally. Chantal Kirby (they/them) (Australian/New Zealand) Chantal Kirby is a designer, educator, undertaking a practice-based PhD, RMIT University. Exploring design and crafting as modes of non-human collaboration their practice performs transformative interactions with material. Central to this are methods of re-use and circularity of scraps for resurrecting waste through luxury garment practice. As D&K collaborator with Ricarda Bigolin, they produce various works for exhibition and performance. Other collaborative projects have been exhibited globally with garments held NGV collection, Australia.