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Last Saturday marked the end of the Makeshift Sustainability Festival - a month-long programme of events focused on repair-based skills. These were workshops on the basics of a variety of hands-on skills or crafts - carpentry, electronics, sewing, screenprinting (on secondhand clothing) and more. The ultimate goal was to connect people looking for these skills to existing sustainability initiatives spread out across Ōtepoti that might have been unheard of to some - such as Te Oraka (on-campus thrift shop that runs night markets and gigs!), Stitch Kitchen, Com2Tech and Cook Brothers Construction.
The final event of the Makeshift Festival was a DIY screenprint-your-own-merch gig. The idea was to print onto your own existing clothing with the logos of the local bands that would play later that evening, like riot-grrrl icon Vagina Dry, alongside U-No Juno, SPLINTER and STRAP.
The hope was for an event with a total punk DIY philosophy - print it yourself, and re-engage with your existing but unworn clothing in your wardrobe. In doing this, you can take back some control and some autonomy over what is ultimately an overflowing landscape of clothing - unfortunately perpetuated by the encompassing system of capitalism and colonisation. Sometimes this sustainability thing can be overwhelming to think about, or do something about. We wanted to make this event as something small to look forward to - despite the current political and environmental climate!
After the screenprinting session we had our four band line-up play live. Crowd-favourite U-No Juno had amazing stage presence as always. Their set included their enchanting, Dunedin-sound reminiscent single Skyscrapers, with lead vocalist Ramona inviting the crowd into movement with her lulling and rocking to the song’s rhythm. They were followed by hardcore three-piece STRAP, who brought the crowd rocking up a notch. Their set launched a moshpit complete with vigorous crowd circling, energetically matched by the vocals and instrumentals. Next up was iconic Vagina Dry, whose frontwoman El brought absolute raw energy, warranted rage and emotion into the lyrics on women’s rights, white privilege, consent, police brutality AND David Seymour. Their single Brutalised is the best thing ever live, by the way. We concluded the night with SPLINTER, with their music catalysing what can be described as a turbulent, violent rocking ocean of crowd energy, complete with moshing, crowd halves like waves colliding with one another, circling and crowd-surfing.
Overall, the most rewarding thing for me to see as the organiser/producer was how happy, rapt and electric people’s expressions were. Not once was the audience stationary. Phones were out for video capture, with eyes lit up and locked in on the stage, there was reciprocal energy passed back and forth through pushing and movement, the heat was rising, overall vibes chaotic and alive and sweeping and encompassing. 100/10 gig, would screenprint again.
But back to the topic of clothing - there are enough clothes on the planet to clothe the next eight generations! I sincerely urge readers to think about the possibilities for the clothing you already own and restyling - can a skirt be a top, a scarf a top? How many outfits combos exist in your wardrobe that are yet to be discovered? What things can you start wearing as accessories that aren’t even meant to be accessories in the first place? Op-shopping is better than buying new, but ultimately also another cog propping up the machine that is overconsumption. Look for quality - how are the seams, what is the material made of, will this garment work with your other garments, will you wear it a lot, will it last ten, twenty, thirty more years, will you find new ways to style it, will it stand up to harsher weather (especially in Ōtepoti)? These are the kinds of questions we need to ask rather than stopping at the act of op-shopping and calling it a day - unfortunately, buying secondhand doesn’t address the structural issues that facilitate an unquenchable need for novelty. If you are buying for the feeling of new through secondhand, what is that underlying emotion you are hoping to soothe? Don’t just buy, curate. Buy less, choose well. Be intentional about what you wear. Ask questions always, and understand the production of something as much as you can. What you wear is a protest - that is the punkest thing you can do!
Credit: Sonia Antakusuma
Credit: Sonia Antakusuma
Credit: Sonia Antakusuma
Credit: Sonia Antakusuma
Credit: Sonia Antakusuma
Credit: Sonia Antakusuma
