What is XTANT?

currently or actually existing

still existing: not destroyed or lost 

XTANT is a tabula rasa, a white canvas, a fresh piece of paper.

…To bring a new vision and content to a very old trade: heritage textiles.

Textiles are language. In the past humans used warp and weft before words existed.  Threads were used to express individuality, status, beliefs, communities and above all, diversity.

This language was completely hijacked as a result of the industrial revolution.
As the late Antonio Pasquali reminded us, “the ability to communicate is inherent to the formation of society. And so, any modification or control of communications leads to a modification or control of society itself.”

Hence, we propose taking back control of the language: Recuperating the language of textiles. 

A reminder that homo sapiens knew how to weave before we learnt how to write. We have used textiles as a medium to pass on information before we started copying parchments. Women and indigenous communities (the ones most excluded from our current decision making) are the experts in this field. 

In the words of Eduardo Galeano, “Whoever writes, weaves. Text comes from the Latin, “textum” which means tissue. With strings of words we are saying, with strings of time we are living. Texts are like us: fabrics that walk.” 

The incredible success of that event right before the world came to a halt was a great teacher. We received innumerable messages from people who attended telling us how it changed their lives. Someone beautifully described it as a mix between Burning Man, TED conference and a village fair. 

Why XTANT now?

Since the great pause, we have taken it upon oursleves to clean up our altars (what we venerate) and we propose for XTANT to be the platform where new altars can be built using the right words with their original meanings. 

“Clothes have, they say, more important offices than merely to keep us warm. They change our view of the world and the world’s view of us… There is much to support the view that it is clothes that wear us and not we them; we may make them take the mould of arm or breast, but they mould our hearts, our brains, our tongues to their liking.” Virginia Woolf 

Over the past years, so much has been clarified for us– and others – about what is essential, what we can eliminate, and what we want to emerge. The global pandemic laid bare excruciating systemic inequality and weaknesses in numerous aspects of our society; it also reminded us of what true heroes look like. We witnessed epic failures of leadership, and incredible acts of generosity. Identified what can be done well remotely while highlighting the power and beauty of community. What is clear is that this proverbial ring of fire through which we are passing leaves little doubt about what really matters: home; relationships; health – of our planet, our minds and bodies, and our loved ones-; connection; meaningful work; and what we hope is a renewed and invigorated commitment to true diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. 

“The clothes that protect us, that make us laugh, that serve as a uniform, that help us assert our identity or aspirations, that we wear to remember someone — in all of these are encoded the stories of our lives. We all have a memoir in miniature living in a garment we’ve worn.” Emily Spivack, Worn Stories.