weaving Voices 01.04.2025 issuu - Flipbook - Page 45
Weaving together to mend our collective wellbeing
Conclusion
Our activity at Leeds City Square offered me a fresh and profound
experience of weaving together, as the responsibility of inviting and
instructing participants to weave alongside us was no longer solely
mine, but was shared among other members of Weaving Voices.
This allowed me to take a step back and observe the activity from
a distance, rather than being in the midst of it. Additionally, a novel
aspect was introduced by Dóra Halas and Christiane Hommelsheim,
who actively encouraged weaving participants or passersby in the
square to share songs with them or with the group. This resulted in
touching moments where individuals willingly shared their voices
with strangers or with the group, which shed light on the diverse
backgrounds of the people from Leeds we connected with. Our
group also sang often in various languages, while weaving or
standing close to the weave, which appeared to intrigue some
passengers of the square (and it may have scared others away).
The incorporation of singing alongside weaving brought joy and
maintained our high spirits over three days. I would even venture to
say that it played a role in our ability to complete not just one, but
two weaves! It also paved the way for the public to participate in
the vocal exercises at 5 pm, with the entire Weaving Voices group
in the installation. Participants joined alongside other collaborators
such as the director of the Mill Hill Chapel and the Harmony Choir.
Engaging in collective voice work together has heightened the
awareness of our own sounds and bodies and of other bodies
and sounds around us. The added handcraft practices of weaving
together, repairing clothes, colouring threads, printing with plants
on cloth and paper and bookmaking, has broadened the circle
of relations around us. It connected us to things, settings and
environments, objects, stories and material matter. It also linked
us to other times, cultural heritage and history, to our hands, our
senses of sight and touch, to colours and textures and our own and
collective expressive style.
Reflecting on my notes and observations from this week, two things
particularly stand out. Firstly, the incorporation of singing during,
alongside, or in alternation with weaving significantly enhances the
spirit and interconnectedness of the group. This, in turn, strengthens
the endurance of the collective weaving process. As the group of
volunteers and participants underwent constant change, this shared
activity served as a very welcoming glue that newcomers could
flow into quite easily. The second point revolves around a central
question: Can the act of weaving together in Europe today serve as
a practice of mending our collective wellbeing? This question aims
to capture the significance of weaving together in relation to the
historical and evolving role of weaving and the textile industry in
Europe, as well as our endeavours with Weaving Voices in diverse
European communities.
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By combining these two joint perspectives in carefully constructed
exercises, a more inclusive and wholesome practice of awareness
appears, which can form a baseline of creative low-threshold
explorations for individuals or groups seeking to engage in
comprehensive creative and compassionate practices. The soundand material tapestries that result from this work, contain rich
documentation of each particular group and setting, who explored,
learned and created collectively. While simultaneously, the journey
of the work may have influenced each actor independently, leading
to personal development. No journey or result of collective work
will ever be the same. In addition to Weaving Voices, we celebrate
numerous other creative projects, approaches, and wholesome
practices with a similar goal: fostering awareness and building
positive connections that enhance our collective wellbeing.
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