textile healing - resistant threads. feminist interventions on femicides
a workshop organized by the institute for education in the arts, in cooperation with the coordination office for the advancement of women | gender studies | diversity, as part of the campaign 16 days of activism against gender-based violence.
hosts: sarah held, aufstand der schwestern, scholar of feminist art and activism
ren aldridge, resistance quilt project, singer petrol girls
the experimental format "textile healing - resistant threads: feminist interventions on femicides" offers insights into both the theory and practice of a craft-based, revolutionary feminist approach to fighting direct, cultural, and structural violence against women and queers. sarah held, who did her PhD “Zur Materialität des feminsitischen Widerstands. Textile Agency gegen sexualisierte Gewalt/Femicides” (2021) on this subject through ethnographic research in the us, mexico, and chile, will share insights from her fieldwork on the “monument quilt” and the theory she developed.
ren aldridge shows her project “resistance quilt project”, and during the workshop, we focus on creating demand banners. these banners are made through a process of discussing what makes us vulnerable to violence and, by extension, what needs to change. from this conversation, we craft a central demand for the banner (e.g., "fight isolation!"). we also explore ways we can work toward this demand in our own lives and communities (e.g., getting to know our neighbors), and translate these actions into fabric examples to add to the banner.
the concept of "gossip”, according to bell hooks, is an open form of political discussion - women in past centuries used these spaces to exchange revolutionary thoughts and knowledge.
all materials will be provided—let’s fight together!