Circulation and Culture – The BFTS 2021 ends with a dialogue about sustainability

What is the intersection between sustainability efforts and contemporary art? What will sustainability mean for us in 30 years? Such exciting topics will be discussed during the two-day Budapest Fashion & Tech Summit fashion industry conference’s side event, the sustainability talks in the Ráth György Villa, on the 3^rd of December. As the event’s highlight, a unique guided tour will be held at the temporary exhibition In Circulation: Romani design.

The Hungarian Fashion & Design Agency (HFDA) organises its Budapest Fashion & Tech Summit fashion industry conference featuring international acknowledged professionals, for free, in English, between the 1^st and 2^nd of December for the fourth time. The event realised in the online space approaches and presents the fashion industry’s future from the aspects of sustainability, knowledge sharing, cultural heritage, e-commerce, and altered consumer habits.

Besides the BFTS presentations, the Agency realises a side event on the 3^rd of December in the Ráth György Villa (part of the Museum of Applied Arts), which will also focus on environmental protection. The first programme of the side event is the roundtable discussion “Sustainable fashion for a sustainable future”, featuring Alma Vetlényi, executive and designer of the ALMA brand; Mihály Hartay, communicational leader of TexTrade Kft.; and Petra Hoffmann, founder of the Gardrób Community Fair.

The discussion will draw, among other things, on the results of the HFDA’s sustainability questionnaire, which was completed by students and teachers from Hungarian educational institutions and domestic designers and manufacturers. The first part will touch upon questions such as how greener the fashion industry can be rendered, whether a sustainable model can be created in the industry, what a circular economy approach is, and whose responsibility it is to introduce and comply with sustainability.

The following programme will be the roundtable discussion “How can the operation of cultural institutions be more sustainable?” with the participation of Dr Judit Horváth, Head of the Department of Contemporary Design at the Museum of Applied Arts; Réka Szentesi, Head of the Fashion Management Department of Mod’Art and sustainability expert; and Erika Varga, founder and designer of Romani Design. During the discussion, they will talk about topics such as how important it is to demonstrate sustainability in the case of objects in a museum, what green goals a cultural institution can set, or the role of art in the ecological crisis.

Both discussions will be moderated by Anita Forintos-Szűcs, Deputy CEO and Fashion Director of the Hungarian Fashion & Design Agency. Finally, guests can take part in a guided tour of the “In Circulation: Romani design“ exhibition in the same museum.

You can watch the programmes and side events of the two-day conference live on the Budapest Fashion & Tech Summit’s official Facebook page and later on its YouTube channel.