Prinzessinnen und Heilige / Princesses and Saints: Justyna Koeke

- Koeke's Works were shown at the 2016 Berlin Alternative Fashion Week- Colorful children's drawings come to life, tailored on the bodies of ladies of advanced years. The project depicts the sometimes sad reality of getting older humorously- Pictures from Fashion shows, the retirement home and studio photography show the project in all its diversity- Inside look into a fascinating mixture of sculpture, performance and fashion Justyna Koeke transforms children's fantasies into wearable sculptures and morphs fashion shows into performances. As a child, Koeke, together with her sisters, painted her heroes - from princesses to saints. She now brings them into reality as a collection of vibrantly colorful outfits chock-full of whimsical details. These tailored fantasies are brought to life on the bodies of ladies of advanced years. The publication presents the entire project: from the child-like naive drawings, via photographs of the dressed-up models before the sterile backdrop of their retirement home, to fun-loving fashion shows - an equally humorous and critical approach to the correlation of childhood dreams and the reality of getting older, in which the unsolved issues of an increasingly ageing society invariably resonate. The art project, fluctuating between sculpture, performance and allusions to the fashion world, was presented, among other places, at the Alternative Berlin Fashion Week in March of 2016.

Prof Dr Nils Buttner teaches art history at the Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Kunste, Stuttgart. Sonja Eismann is a journalist as well as founder and editor of Missy Magazine. Prof Dr Anne Soll teaches modern art with the focus on cultural and gender studies at the Ruhr-Universitat Bochum.