Amaranta’s dress / ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE
By Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Photos by Boris Sebez
Belgrade, Serbia
One Hundred Years of Solitude tells the story of the isolated fictional town of Macondo that embodies a metaphoric country of Colombia, and of the family who founds it, the Buendías. Amaranta is one of the female characters from the Buendías. She suffers a disappointment in love that creates a lifelong rivalry with her adopted sister and turns her into a bitter, loveless woman.
Amaranta’s dress is inspired by magic realism and Colombian traditional beading and embroidery. The black symbolizes Amaranta’s grief for her unrequited love while the cut of the dress alongside with stiffness add a layer of confinement which disable her to move and express her emotions freely. Vividly colorful pattern exemplifies passion from her youth and the colors of Colombia. The pattern is based on a detail from a Colombian ethnic dress and created with the use of a contemporary product - plastic straws. They are cut and sewn into the dress to resemble Latin American beading style. The repetition within the pattern illustrates one of the main themes of the novel - country's historic recurrence. This medium additionally refers to sustainability. Plastic straws are not the waste anymore. They become art.