Mend at Proteus Gowanus in Brooklyn

Proteus Gowanus is a gallery and reading room, housed in an old box factory in Brooklyn. They are currently showing an exhibition that's right up our street, as it's on the theme of "MEND".

In the words of the gallery "From mending a piece of fabric to solving global problems, we will explore the theme from a multiplicity of perspectives and disciplines at a time when “fixing things,” from the mundane to the profound, seems increasingly out of our reach. In a culture that increasingly resorts to throwing things away when they break, we will begin by exploring the disappearing skills and tools of repair, from darning socks and repairing shoes, to fixing watches and mending clothing, including stitching, spinning, and knitting."

As well as the current exhibition, the space also hosts a weekly meeting of the Fixers' Collective, a group dedicated to a social experiment in improvisational fixing and mending. People are invited to bring along their broken objects, which are placed on a large table for a communal inspection and the exchange of ideas and techniques to fix them. Anyone can come along, as long as they are willing to have a go, and there are "Master Fixers" there to lend support, guidance and courage.

We think the Fixers' Collective is a brilliant idea - and one that we at Make it and Mend it are planning to steal joyfully ourselves. More news on this soon.

Proteus Gowanus