Wisteria fish skin clutch

The Nanai Indigenous peoples of Russia Far East have traditionally lived along the Amur river basin. They sourced their materials from animals that were necessary for their survival like salmon, and they used their skins for the construction of garments and accessories. With the abundance of fish in the Arctic rivers and with the Native peoples' close affinity to nature and its resources, it followed naturally for fishskin to become widely used as a 'fabric' to create garments, accessories, and containers . Fishing in the Arctic was a reciprocal exchange between animals and the humans who fished them. Wearing fishskin clothing created a connection with and honoured the animal.

The Inspiration for the wisteria fish skin clutch draws on indigenous Arctic heritage of fishskin artefacts like the Nanai fish skin hood from the National Museum of Denmark, connecting anthropology, ethnography, craftsmanship and sustainability documenting and learning from the Arctic Indigenous peoples’ traditional fish skin craft practices. The fishskin artefact is part of the National Museum of Denmark collection which cares for one of the world’s most important collections of cultural material from the Arctic peoples. Both objects in the exhibition aim to identify the cultural, environmental and socio-economic importance of fish skin as an innovative sustainable material.

The fish leather clutch was produced under the Worth partnership, funded by European Commission, EASME, under COSME 2014-2020. Elisa Palomino joined with fish leather manufacturers Atlantic Leather to develop a collection of Fish leather accessories to increase the sustainability of fish leather products in the luxury fashion industry. Fish leather is a by-product of the fishing industry, uses ocean food waste, offers outstanding longevity and is highly biodegradable. The production process at Atlantic Leather makes use of renewable hydro and geothermal energy, combining traditional tanning techniques with the latest technologies. For the Wisteria clutch, water-based ink jet printing technology was used for the production of environmentally friendly prints and to mimic Arctic natural dyeing techniques.

• https://mfs.dk/en/exhibition/oceanista/