The City of Vienna has set up a new costume lending platform aimed at easing budget pressures on independent theatre companies by cutting the costs of costume procurement and storage.

The initiative, a collaboration between the Vienna Theatre Association and the ART for ART theatre workshops, aims to promote sustainability in the arts, according to City Councillor for Culture and Science, Veronica Kaup-Hasler.

More than 400 independent theatre groups, smaller venues, and freelance artists funded by Vienna’s cultural department will now have access to this shared costume archive. Participants can contribute their own costumes, which will be properly stored and available for others to borrow.

The new archive is housed within ART for ART’s existing costume repository in Vienna’s 14th district.

Contributors will receive vouchers equivalent to the value of their costumes, allowing them to borrow other items. Once vouchers are spent, a small fee of 4% of the costume’s value will be charged. A committee of costume designers and ART for ART experts will assess costume values.

Additionally, contributors can rent from ART for ART’s larger collection of over 250,000 costumes at a reduced rate.