SHIFT

David Clarke × Omer Asim : Between Garments and Sculpture

A rare dialogue emerges where garments and sculpture meet, where the tactile power of matter embraces the flowing language of cloth. The collaboration between British artist David Clarke and Sudanese-born designer duo Omer Asim unfolds as a living conversation between art and culture, rooted in tradition yet projecting towards the future.

A Meeting of Worlds

David Clarke, often referred to as the “enfant terrible of silver,” reshapes metal into unexpected forms, challenging notions of craft, beauty, and utility. His hands carry a rebellious tenderness, each object both a provocation and a poem.

In dialogue with him, Omer Asim - a duo that transcends fashion and becomes language - creates garments that blur the boundaries between clothing and architecture. Their silhouettes echo Sudanese heritage, yet evolve into a universal expression of identity, modesty, and strength.

Together, they weave a fabric of resonance, where garments are not worn but inhabited, and objects are not static but alive.

The Inspiration of Zār

At the heart of this collaboration lies the mystical rhythm of Zār, a traditional Sudanese ritual dance known for its hypnotic power and healing energy. Zār is more than a performance, it is an embodied trance, a way of communing with unseen forces, of channeling pain and ecstasy into movement.

Through Omer Asim, the essence of Zār flows into fabric: layers that conceal and reveal, drapings that echo the body’s sway, textures that capture the breath of ceremony.

Through David Clarke, Zār translates into matter: hammered silver, fractured forms, surfaces that vibrate like echoes of drums. His objects do not merely exist; they resonate with an unseen frequency, holding within them both weight and release.

The Energy of Studio Rö

This collaboration finds its spiritual anchor in Studio Rö, a space where creativity is ritual, and art is inseparable from life. Here, garments and sculptures are not separated by discipline but united by energy. Studio Rö channels the mysticism of Zār, the rebellion of Clarke, and the cultural memory of Omer Asim into one immersive experience.

It is less an exhibition than a rite of passage, an invitation to step into an atmosphere charged with meaning, where fashion becomes sculpture, sculpture becomes garment, and art becomes a communal act of remembering and reinventing.

A Collection Beyond Boundaries

What emerges is not a traditional collection but a constellation of works, garments, objects, and energies, that breathe together. Each piece is both personal and collective, intimate and universal.

In this union of matter and fabric, hand and body, tradition and future, we are reminded that culture is not fixed but fluid, a living dance between memory and invention.