I SEE YOU
SEEING ME

Poet Manka Menga and conceptual fashion designer Katharina Spitz collaborate to explore themes such as womanhood, social cohesion, and memory. The performative work ‘I see you seeing me’ is a combination of object, word, and embodiment.

What unites them is a shared longing rooted in an critical but open view on time, space and society. They also share a poetic, critical, and brutally honest approach to their thinking and expression. While Manka distills her message into words, Katharina translates the conflicts she encounters into the material world. Together, they developed a threefold work that highlights the conflicts they encounter as well as their shared experience. 



‘The emotional journey continued with “I SEE YOU SEE ME,” a collaborative piece by designer Katharina Spitz and poet Manka Menga. The duo courageously explored themes of womanhood, ritualistic desires, and the embodiment of space and time, deeply inspired by resilient women who have carved out their legacy in both history and society’s consciousness.’ - Kaltblut magazine

Photography: Ruben Hilkens for Fashionclash FestivalSound: Sophie SchiettekatteFunded by: Amarte Fonds and Fashionclash Festival

The work consists of two embroidered Khangas, a crying dress crocheted from hair and embroidered with glass beads, a hair-veil, a soundscape that includes spoken word and a lament by Sofie Schietekatte and a gestural performance. 

We aim to develop it further into a video-installation and perform it at various locations. Please feel free to reach out! 

Link to a video of the performance at Marres (Maastricht):