weaving Voices 01.04.2025 issuu - Flipbook - Page 67
Purposefully designed for a comfortable sharing of time, the space
attracted a community of friends and unfamiliar neighbours who
found their way to our working–living room. Many stories were
spoken into microphones, yet even more were exchanged over cups
of tea.
prompted participants to share stories from the perspective of
their garments. Through this gathering, they too emphasised the
relevance of establishing cosy spaces where communal rituals of
sharing and embodied learning could unfold.
Voices of Slotervaart, Bureau Postjesweg, Amsterdam, 24 April 2023.
The mending circle with the Feminist Needlework Party at Bureau Postjesweg, Amsterdam, April 2023.
During the workshop week at our work–living space in Amsterdam,
we had the pleasure of inviting the Feministische Handwerk Partij
(FHP, Feminist Needlework Party) to lead a communal activity.107 The
FHP is a political feminist artist group that orchestrates gatherings
where needlework and study intertwine, aiming to cultivate a higher
appreciation for care, maintenance, and repair. In this particular
activity, they encouraged us to gather in a comfortable circle,
adorned in bathrobes, sipping tea, as we mended our own clothes.
Simultaneously, they read their manifesto on invisible care and
107 The Feminist Needlework Party is an initiative of artist Emmeline de Mooij and director Margreet Sweerts.
Their manifest is available online:
Manifesto (n.d.) Feministische Handwerk Partij. Available at: https://feministischehandwerkpartij.org/ [Accessed
7th July 2024].
The loom provided by the Weaving Voices programme gave us the
opportunity to convene in each other’s living and workspaces – the
Roy Hart Centre in France; a community of artists near Berlin; a
suburb in Amsterdam; a Swedish forest; a city square in Leeds, and
a rehabilitation centre and village in rural Hungary. For a week at a
time, we shared conviviality and work, created turns in routines for
each other or adhered to the provided routine. This involved going
to bed and waking up in a communal place, as well as sharing food
and domestic chores. These shared experiences have immensely
contributed to our group bonding. Undertaking these routine and
creative activities facilitated by the weavers, in a spirit of trust
enabled the growth of communal memories which in turn created an
essential foundation for our community to form.
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