A new art exhibition in Jersey, crafted from 700 donated shirts, has opened to the public, bringing together garments with deep personal significance.
The Dancing Together project, currently displayed at ArtHouse Jersey in Capital House, will be open through December 1.
Each shirt, donated by members of the Jersey community, holds memories of people and moments dear to the donors.
Earlier this year, the shirts were strung up at Charing Cross before being transformed into the current sculptural installation.
One contributor, Bruce Carnegie, shared that the shirt he donated was a reminder of a friend who passed away from cancer last year.
“Drawing shirts together like this, which all have a history, and displaying them in a public space for people to look at, admire and criticize, are the sorts of things that make us human and make us a society,” he said.
The installation is the vision of Finnish contemporary artist Kaarin Kaikkonen, inspired by her own experience of loss.
“My father died in front of my eyes when I was a child,” Kaikkonen explained. “I felt his love more when I had his shirt on.”
Her work captures the spirit of each shirt’s former owner, with Kaikkonen adding, “Every shirt has the energy of the person who had been wearing it, so that’s why I want to use old shirts that had a previous life.”
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