Building from the themes of the exhibition Self-Made: Reshaping Identities, this workshop introduced patchwork and textile collage as mediums for storytelling, exploring the processes of constructing and negotiating our identities.
Drawing in particular from the tradition of Ge Ba/ Gēbèi, a Chinese textile practice that layers recycled fabric into collages of colour and texture, participants created small patchworks, combining scrap and used fabric into living archives that responded to themes of touch, memory, identity, care, and belonging.
Feedback from participants:
“It gave me the time and space to rekindle that lost sense of play, specifically play in a comfortable environment where I didn't need to mask... The workshop was just the perfect mishmash of information, engagement with the museum collection and craft.”
“It allowed me to rekindle this sense of play – play that was all kinds of sensory – tactile, visual...”
“I loved how playful the workshop felt! And how it encouraged a sense of touch which I often overlook in my approach to making and enjoying art. Wholesome!”
“It gave me the time and space to rekindle that lost sense of play, specifically play in a comfortable environment where I didn't need to mask... The workshop was just the perfect mishmash of information, engagement with the museum collection and craft.”
“It allowed me to rekindle this sense of play – play that was all kinds of sensory – tactile, visual...”
“I loved how playful the workshop felt! And how it encouraged a sense of touch which I often overlook in my approach to making and enjoying art. Wholesome!”
photos by Anna Cunningham
This workshop was part of the community publication and programme In Between Knots, curated by Nastia Svarevska, exploring themes of home and belonging.
Patching the Archive explored the theoretical and practical meaning of patchwork, and the parallels beween this technique and the fluid, ever-changing nature of cultural identity.
This session drew on the conception of diasporic community (as written by Stuart Hall) as ‘becoming’ not ‘being’, and on Deleuze’s writings about patchwork emulating the processes and circularity of migration and nomadism. Through conversation and stitch, participants explored patchwork as both an active, creative archival process and a radical, collective, and intimate craft.
Patching the Archive explored the theoretical and practical meaning of patchwork, and the parallels beween this technique and the fluid, ever-changing nature of cultural identity.
This session drew on the conception of diasporic community (as written by Stuart Hall) as ‘becoming’ not ‘being’, and on Deleuze’s writings about patchwork emulating the processes and circularity of migration and nomadism. Through conversation and stitch, participants explored patchwork as both an active, creative archival process and a radical, collective, and intimate craft.
photos by Nastia Svarevska
Love Tokens was held in collaboration with community space Shor as part of their Summer 2024 event series. Over an afternoon participants gathered to hold, share, and honour their friendships, familial, and ancestral connections through textiles.
Drawing on traditions of love and friendship tokens, this session explored what it means to collect stories and memories in a personal, multisensory archive. Using applique, embroidery, and patchwork, participants created small keepsakes representing a significant relationship in their lives, whether with a partner, a friend, a family member/ancestor, or anyone else who they felt inspired to create a piece about!
Drawing on traditions of love and friendship tokens, this session explored what it means to collect stories and memories in a personal, multisensory archive. Using applique, embroidery, and patchwork, participants created small keepsakes representing a significant relationship in their lives, whether with a partner, a friend, a family member/ancestor, or anyone else who they felt inspired to create a piece about!
photos by Aadi Jain