Creating a Connected Textile Community
One of the things WARP members always report they value about their WARP membership is the community it brings together. Our networking roundtable this month will be to shine a light on the everyday stories of how textiles bring people together and the value that they get from that community.
Come and listen to three WARP members talk about how they have gotten more involved and what they get out of it, how to be giving and selfish at the same time. All have good stories to tell, and are interested in hearing yours during the Q and A as well.
Yasmine Dabbous is a visual culture artist based in Beirut, Lebanon whose work has been exhibited at galleries on three continents.
Textile artists and artisans have been creating designs and fashions for centuries. Many of the designs and patterns contain symbols that are unique to particular cultures and beliefs. Modern fashion designers have sometimes “borrowed” some of the designs, symbols, patterns, etc. without permission or acknowledgement or understanding. At what point can this be considered cultural appropriation? And how can a partnership be established to acknowledge and respect the original artisans?
EN ESPAÑOL Jessica Elena Aquino es una artista multidisciplinaria chicana de primera generación de Santa Ana, California, cuya práctica abarca la fibra, la escultura y el grabado. Reimagina objetos encontrados, fotografías familiares y artefactos culturales, como las hojas de maíz, en reliquias y recuerdos personales, explorando temas de migración, memoria y conexión con la tierra.
Jessica Elena Aquino is a first-generation Chicanx multidisciplinary artist from Santa Ana, CA, whose practice spans fiber, sculpture, and printmaking. She reimagines found objects, family photographs, and cultural artifacts—such as cornhusks—into personal relics and mementos, exploring themes of migration,
memory, and connection to the land.
Textiles often preserve and retain/reflect a culture’s beliefs, values, identities, history, future, and social structure, to name a few key concepts. Keeping traditional textile practices alive in a changing world can be an arduous process involving time, energy, persistence, and commitment. Recognizing the contributions and perspectives of past, current, and future artisans can bring many questions to the forefront.
In 1966, local people in the Alberta and Gee’s Bend area of Alabama embarked on a journey to restore and rebuild their local economy through a quilting cooperative. During the late 1950’s through the early 1960’s, this rural town’s families were in the midst of losing their homes, lands and rights to vote. With the help of Father X. Walter, many volunteers, the women of Gee’s Bend, alongside the strong leadership of Estelle Witherspoon, the Bee’s first president, the Freedom Quilting Bee was established.