In this guest post, Andrea Liu presents the second part of her reflections on embroidery as a form of mending during and after war and political violence. Read more...
The Needle as the Pen. Part 9: Visible Mending: Embroidering Love
The Needle as the Pen. Part 7: The Unravelling: Cutting Cloths
In this guest post, Andrea Liu explores militarised violence and civilian resistance in the contexts of the dictatorships in Argentina and Chile in the 1970s and 80s. Another powerful read. See more here...
The Needle as the Pen. Part 6: The Unravelling: Starving Mouths
In the sixth part of the post series "The Needle as the Pen", our guest author Andrea Liu reflects on arpilleras from Peru and Chile that document economic crisis in Latin America in the 1980s. Read more...
The Needle as the Pen. Part 5: The Unravelling: Breaking Bodies
In part 5 of her guest post "The Needle as the Pen", Andrea Liu reflects on how textiles were used in Chile and Argentina to denounce political violations by dictatorial regimes.
Stitching In/Justice: The art of conflict textiles
In this post we reflect on conflict textiles’ status as art, as well as on their potential, indeed their force, in pressing for (international) justice. As to the former question, we point out how conflict textiles complicate the very category of “art” – how they straddle divides between art, craft and activism, and how the medium of textile and the practice of needlework continue to be associated with femininity, domesticity and “mere” decorative purposes. With regard to the latter point, we describe the role that conflict textiles can play in trials and truth and reconciliation commissions, yet we also argue that their greatest value lies in the powerful work they do outside such formal justice processes.
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.
Stitched Voices podcast – episode 2: “Voices of Activism”
The second episode of Liv Williams' Stitched Voices podcast is here. Enjoy listening!
On Stitching the Search…
"[A]s someone who greatly appreciates written words, my favourite piece was a textile displayed at the Aberystwyth exhibition titled Hilvanando la busqueda, or in English 'Stitching the search'." In this guest post, Amal Abu-Bakare talks about her favourite exhibit and the experience of giving guided tours of Stitched Voiced. Read more here.
Arpillera memories
Read about the interweaving of life trajectories, arpilleras, political activism, Chilean democratisation, and academia in this insightful guest post by Lucy Taylor.
Stitched Voices 