How would you look like if you for one day could become your own biggest dream?
Aliya is fascinated by the way we are able perform our dreams and get empowered through clothing. With the exhibition and social project Power Suit Camp at Flux Factory she generously facilitates a platform where a group of young girl scouts get a chance to face and engage with their biggest dreams while answering the question: What would your courage self wear, do and say?
Over this past week Aliya, a team of other artists and the girl scouts have met every afternoon to explore their dream jobs in a fashionable and creative enviroment, created by Aliya. Together this team of girly forces have invented dance moves, made zines and designed personalized Power Suits. Power Suit Camp will open up to the public on Februrary 9th where the girl scouts will do a fashion show to show off their creations and most powerful selves. How would you look like if you for one day could become your own biggest dream?
As a little girl I dreamed of becoming an artist and I spend most of my time in my room doing different drawings and creating my own imagenary worlds. For as long as I can remember my family pushed and pursued me to go in that direction. When I got older expectations grew taller while I continuesly grew smaller. At the time when I finished high school and was about to set out to conquer the world and pursue my dream job, I felt so little that I didn't have the courage to go after the dream that had shaped my life. Instead I went on a heartbreaking search for a new dream.
At a certain age you realize that dreams you keep close to your heart are not only good. They're build up around different personal, social and economic expectations, which makes them difficult to live up to in real life. Most people realize that at a young age. For me, that turn came pretty late in life.
2,5 years ago Aliya moved to New York to create a life as an artist. One of the first things she noticed was how easily social situations could turn into business and how strangers responded to her confident. In New York she became more aware of her self image and as time went by she realized that her confident was empowered through her clothing. She started playing with different costumes and dressed up in different suits in order to get a clearer understanding of how the life in a big city is structured and functions and how identity is created. This personal discovery is one of the reasons why she decided to do the exhibition and social project Power Suit Camp.
When I met up with Aliya and as we talked about dream job it suddenly occured to me, that this was the first time in what felt like years I had told someone about my childhood dreams. What had actually happened since that time I decided to give up my dream? How does my dreams look like today?
Besides being passionate about fashion and art Aliya is passionate about community. She has worked with Creative Time, Flux Factory, Elsewhere Collaborative, The Wassaic Project, the Laundromat Project, and the Eileen Fisher Leadership Institute where she has taught workshops and produced events that engage everyday people in making authentic connections, which also is the case with Power Suit Camp.
The exhibition and social project Power Suit Camp adresses the issues and beautiful aspects of pursuing your dream job and dreams in general. Power Suit Camp provides a vulnerable space where people can meet and share their stories, joys and sorrows. Power Suit Camp is not a one woman show, but it is inspired from her own thoughts, dreams and insecurities. Power Suit Camp is about accepting your own vulnerability by sharing it with others. After talking with Aliya I realized I'm really happy about where I am today. As it got harder for me to express myself in drawings, it became easier for me to write. I may not be an artist today, but I'm in a place where I'm close to the art, describing it and creating images with words.
What I have learned through this experience with Power Suit Camp is that we don't always need our dreams to come true. But we need our dreams in order to have something that pushes us forward and makes life worth living. So put on your best power suit, join the movement and face your dreams!
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