Documenting the Refugee Crisis: Remembering through Embroidery

In this guest post, Gillian McFadyen reports on embroidery work that remembers the - often unidentified - persons who have died along the refugee routes into the European Union. Documenting them through embroidery, she shows, brings these human beings closer to us and helps us imagine their hopes and fears on their way into what they hoped would be safety...and what turned out to be tragedy. The deaths of these people are not fate, but the result of the securitising politics of Fortress Europe.

The Needle as the Pen. Part 1: The Coat Speaks!

In this guest post -- the first in a series of reflections an the needle, the body, the cloth and political activism -- Andrea Liu traces & reflects on the story of the coat her great uncle Liu Zhuanghuan, an accused counter-revolutionary, wore in a Chinese forced labour camp in the 1950s. A powerful story and a compelling example of textiles as "public ambassadors for the politically oppressed and voiceless".

(Textil-)Kunst und Konfliktwissen in der Lehre

In this German log post, Berit Bliesemann de Guevara reflects on her use of conflict textiles in teaching and suggests ways how arts- and crafts-based methods can be used in teaching peace and conflict studies and international politics.

Teaching ‘International Relations’ with Conflict Textiles

‘International Relations’ is a broad term which encompasses a range of different issues (e.g. war and peace, climate change, security) which are approached from equally diverse perspectives. In this post, Lydia Cole explores a recent experience of teaching international politics to high school students using a range of conflict textiles.

My Journey into Conflict and the World of Arpilleras, Part 3 (of 3)

This is the last part of Eileen Harrisson's journey into the world of arpilleras, featuring poetry and more of her stunning textile art work.

Following the Threads to Mexico

Dani House gives us powerful insights into the Embroidering for Peace movement in Mexico and reflects with curator Roberta Bacic on how ordinary but, at the same time extraordinary, the practice of embroidering handkerchiefs to denounce murder and forced disappearance in contemporary Mexico is.

Stitched Voices podcast – episode 4: Refining our Understanding

Stitched Voices podcast no. 4 is here! Listen to the last of Liv Williams' insightful pieces on the power of conflict textiles.

What is an arpillera?

In today's guest post by Lorna Dillon, we learn more about the history of arpilleras in Chile and beyond, which role they played and still play in denouncing human rights violations, and in the power of the seed of sewn solidarity.

My Journey into Conflict and the World of Arpilleras, Part 2 (of 3)

Today, Eileen Harrisson continues her journey into the conflict and the world of arpilleras. Learn more about Continuum, her art work which was exhibited as part of Stitched Voices Aberystwyth, and about the family history and experiences that have found their way into her work.

Conflict textiles: value and commodification

What value do conflict textiles have for those who created them? And in what ways has the process of the Stitched Voices exhibition itself been valuable? Read our discussion of these questions here.