‘Threads, War and Conflict: An Exhibition of Women’s Conflict Textiles from Around the World’
Red Box, Verdant Works, Dundee
Saturday, March 9, 2019 – Dundee Women’s Festival 2019
‘A view through the door’ (Photo: Laura Mills)
As part of the 2019 Dundee Women’s Festival, the Threads, War and Conflict team brought a selection of conflict textiles to The Red Box at Verdant Works in Dundee. Held on Saturday 9th March, the team gave members of the public a first look at the exhibition ahead of its launch in early April.
‘Faye Donnelly (centre) shows visitors the concealed pocket on the back of ‘Dónde están nuestros hijos? / Where are our children?’ (Photo: Laura Mills)
Visitors had the opportunity to examine the textiles and learn from the curation team about the history of Arpilleras as a form of resistance. A full report of the event can be found on the CAIN website here.
For details of additional Threads, War & Conflict public engagements please click here.
Conference
On 24 April 2019, twenty participants including academics and representatives from Scottish arts institutions and organisations gathered for a one-day conference on textile, art, and global politics. Beginning with a guided tour with Roberta Bacic focusing on the curation process and individual textiles in the exhibition, the conference included lively panels on ‘Stitching War, Conflict and Resistance’ and ‘Art, Textile and Representation.’ The day concluded with a collective discussion on the role of textiles in our interdisciplinary work and ways forward, including a special issue of ‘Openings’ in Contemporary Voices: The St. Andrews Journal of International Relations.
On the final Friday (26 April) of the exhibition, a Creative Evening concluded the events programme at the Byre Theatre.
The creative evening included a screening of the film ‘Scraps of Life / Retazos de Vida’ and a guided tour with our research assistant Selena Jamallulail. It also featured two displays of artwork made by students in the School of International Relations who then discussed this work with members of the public. One presented artwork created for Dr Laura Mills’ module ‘Everyday Life and Global Politics’, and the other featured works-in-progress stitched by participants at the ‘Letters to Arpilleristas’ workshops. The evening concluded with a discussion about the various threads of war and conflict encountered during the creative evening, providing audience members the opportunity to share their creative responses to the exhibition and beyond.
Threads, War and Conflict team members, Lydia, Laura, and Faye take questions after the screening of ‘Scraps of Life / Retazos de Vida’ (Photo: John Cole)
