The Secret Life of Clothes: The meaning behind what we wear

Shahidha Bari on clothing as an interface between body, identity and the world

10.05

M Leuven

Arbalette, Valérie Mannaerts, 2016, © the artist, photo : Jef Jacobs, courtesy MANIERA Gallery Brussels

The clothes we wear tell a story about ourselves and the world around us. In her book ‘Dressed: The Secret Life of Clothes’, Shahidha Bari explores how garments carry meaning, evoke emotions, and shape our relationship with ourselves and our surroundings. During this Food for Thought lecture, she shares her research and engages in conversation with Valérie Mannaerts.

This lecture will take place in the context of the solo exhibition ‘Valérie Mannaerts. Antennae’. Bari’s book is an important source of inspiration for Mannaerts, who reflects on clothing as a carrier of meaning and identity in her work.

A reflective dialogue

Starting from the themes explored in ‘Dressed’, Bari’s lecture will take you through her research into the interfaces between clothing, sculpture and materials. During a reflective discussion afterwards, Bari and Mannaerts will explore how clothing acts as a sensitive interface between the body and the world – as a carrier of memory, intimacy, power and vulnerability.

About Shahidha Bari

Shahidha Bari is an academic, critic and radio producer. She is a professor at the University of the Arts London and presents the BBC Radio 4 programmes ‘Free Thinking’ and ‘Start the Week’. In 2016, she won the Observer Anthony Burgess Arts Journalism Prize and was a jury member for the Booker Prize, among others. She regularly writes for ‘The Financial Times’, ‘The Guardian’, the ‘Times Literary Supplement’ and ‘Frieze’.

In addition to ‘Dressed: The Secret Life of Clothes’ (2019), Bari wrote ‘Look Again: Fashion’ (2021) for Tate Britain. In her work, she investigates the interconnections between literature, art and philosophy.

The exhibition 'Antennae' will then travel to the Centre d’art contemporain d’Ivry – Le Crédac, where Valérie Mannaerts’s work will be on display from January to March 2027.