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Crafted Liberation : From unwanted headscarves to stadium seats

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Nationality
Australia
Group
RK Collective
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#WomenLifeFreedom #ProtestDesign #Upcycling #Solidarity

About Project

Crafted Liberation is a participatory design project spanning Sydney, Australia (product and project development), Tehran and multiple cities in Iran (headscarf collection), as well as Eindhoven, Jakarta, Zlín, Berlin, and Älmhult. It transforms unwanted headscarves from Iranian women into symbolic stadium seats, a project that began in response to the 2022 death of Mahsa Jina Amini and the subsequent Women, Life, Freedom protests.

Headscarves—once symbols of oppression—are reimagined as instruments of collective resistance and solidarity. Donated scarves were combined with recycled soft plastics in collaboration with Australian R&D partners to create a new fiber composite, which was compression-molded into stadium seats. Spaces once closed to women are thus transformed into symbols of resistance, presence, and dialogue.

The project goes beyond material innovation by combining co-creation with storytelling. More than 550 women worldwide anonymously donated headscarves, which, together with recycled plastics, were reborn as meaningful public infrastructure. Each seat carries the memories and stories of women, expressed as a new language of care, beauty, and solidarity.

By converting waste and marginalized objects into artifacts of social value, the project offers a replicable design model that embodies collective voice and change through participation. Crafted Liberation reconfigures everyday objects to bridge people, society, and the environment, proving that design is not mere decoration but a powerful force for transformation.

Judging Comment