Subderma

The craft of processing deerskin is performed by just 38 people in Austria today. Kiki Astner researched the history, origin and use of the material, obtained from the skins of hunted wild game, and shifts focus to der Säckler, a tailor that has produced Lederhosen for centuries. She studies why an ago-old technique should be developed rather than preserved like an archive, and shows how conservative practices of historicising traditions limit artistic and creative expression and the potential for the skill to survive. By questioning their current folkloric application and juxtaposing nationally specific aesthetics with industrially established methods of leather production, ‘Subderma’ proposes ways to breathe new life into artisanal heritage with an uncertain future.