Sztandar
Sztandar
Sztandar
Overview
Overview
Textile Art
Textile Art
Political Activism
Political Activism
Migration Crisis
Migration Crisis
Sztandar is a sail-shaped textile installation addressing the migration crisis at sea, contrasting the precarious reality left behind with the hope of European stability around a central symbol of rescue and human connection.
Context
Academy of Fine Arts, Warsaw
Academy of Fine Arts, Warsaw
Year
2025
Discipline
Graphic Design
The precarious weight of crossing
The precarious weight of crossing
The precarious weight of crossing
Challenge
Challenge
The brief was to design a political textile banner addressing an urgent socio-political issue. The goal was to translate an abstract societal debate into a powerful, tactile visual statement by leveraging materiality, structural symbolism, and physical craft.
The brief was to design a political textile banner addressing an urgent socio-political issue. The goal was to translate an abstract societal debate into a powerful, tactile visual statement by leveraging materiality, structural symbolism, and physical craft.
Result
The outcome is a monumental sail-shaped installation that confronts the tragedy of Mediterranean migration through contrasting textures and fabrics. I combined distressed, fragmented textiles with structured lines to map the path from vulnerability to hope, centering the piece around reaching hands that urge for empathy and rescue.
The outcome is a monumental sail-shaped installation that confronts the tragedy of Mediterranean migration through contrasting textures and fabrics. I combined distressed, fragmented textiles with structured lines to map the path from vulnerability to hope, centering the piece around reaching hands that urge for empathy and rescue.
The Three Sections of the Banner
The surface is articulated across three distinct sections that retrace the arc of migration. The lower tier conveys the raw precarity of daily survival and the perils of crossing, rendered through distressed textures and an erratic red line. The central section introduces an anchor of solidarity, two hands reaching to bridge the divide, before giving way to the upper section, where formal order and rigid lines evoke the pursuit of stability and safety.
The Three Sections of the Banner
The surface is articulated across three distinct sections that retrace the arc of migration. The lower tier conveys the raw precarity of daily survival and the perils of crossing, rendered through distressed textures and an erratic red line. The central section introduces an anchor of solidarity, two hands reaching to bridge the divide, before giving way to the upper section, where formal order and rigid lines evoke the pursuit of stability and safety.
Material Sourcing and Fabrication Process
The banner was made entirely from secondhand fabrics and old clothes found in thrift shops across Warsaw, giving discarded textiles a second life. The different pieces were joined together using a sewing machine, mixing various textures and weights into a single canvas. For the red line, glue was used alongside regular stitching to fix the thread directly onto the surface. At the center, a simple ring shaped from iron wire supports the fabric and creates the suspended circle that anchors the whole piece.
Material Sourcing and Fabrication Process
The banner was made entirely from secondhand fabrics and old clothes found in thrift shops across Warsaw, giving discarded textiles a second life. The different pieces were joined together using a sewing machine, mixing various textures and weights into a single canvas. For the red line, glue was used alongside regular stitching to fix the thread directly onto the surface. At the center, a simple ring shaped from iron wire supports the fabric and creates the suspended circle that anchors the whole piece.
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© Crafted in Framer by Andrea Contrafatto
Milan, Italy