Date And Time
Wed, April 21, 2021
7:30 PM – 9:30 PM BST
About this Event
Are you fed up with housework and the never-ending list of domestic tasks that somehow seem to land in your lap? Would you like to take part in a craftivist-inspired workshop that lets you have your say, using stitch to change the world (or just your home)? Then join artist and lecturer Vanessa Marr for a fun evening of domestic ranting, celebration and stitchery.
Since 2014, Vanessa has run a practice-based, collaborative research project, which explores contemporary perspectives on the everyday lives of women and their experience of domesticity. She invites women to embroider proclamations, celebrations, poems and images upon a duster, which reflect their own experiences and perspectives. This growing collection has been regularly exhibited including Ditchling Museum, the De La Warr Pavilion and more recently in Florida USA.
The embroidered duster you complete (or start) in this workshop can be treasured and displayed in your own home, or sent to Vanessa to join the touring exhibition collection. Vanessa would love to share all contributions on the Instagram page @domesticdusters. For more information also visit: https://domesticdusters.wordpress.com
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Participation is welcomed from anyone who has an opinion and is keen to take part. You don’t need to be a skilled, embroiderer (although you are welcome if you are). It’s what you say and the safe space to share it that matters. Traditional yellow dusters were selected as a metaphor for domesticity because they are mundane (like most domestic tasks), yet visually appealing in their brilliant bright yellow. When exhibited the dusters are strung together like flags proclaiming a multitude of opinions, stitched with red thread to represent femininity.
Each duster is unique and hand-stitched, demonstrating both skill and time spent in creative investigation of the object, transforming it from a cloth kept under the sink into a voice for women today. Vanessa’s project aims to understand what domesticity means to women of all ages on a practical and experiential level in a world when, in the West at least, a woman can in theory be and do anything. Have the ties to the kitchen sink finally been severed, or is domesticity still ultimately considered a female responsibility?
Since 2014, Vanessa has run a practice-based, collaborative research project, which explores contemporary perspectives on the everyday lives of women and their experience of domesticity. She invites women to embroider proclamations, celebrations, poems and images upon a duster, which reflect their own experiences and perspectives. This growing collection has been regularly exhibited including Ditchling Museum, the De La Warr Pavilion and more recently in Florida USA.
The embroidered duster you complete (or start) in this workshop can be treasured and displayed in your own home, or sent to Vanessa to join the touring exhibition collection. Vanessa would love to share all contributions on the Instagram page @domesticdusters. For more information also visit: https://domesticdusters.wordpress.com
***
Participation is welcomed from anyone who has an opinion and is keen to take part. You don’t need to be a skilled, embroiderer (although you are welcome if you are). It’s what you say and the safe space to share it that matters. Traditional yellow dusters were selected as a metaphor for domesticity because they are mundane (like most domestic tasks), yet visually appealing in their brilliant bright yellow. When exhibited the dusters are strung together like flags proclaiming a multitude of opinions, stitched with red thread to represent femininity.
Each duster is unique and hand-stitched, demonstrating both skill and time spent in creative investigation of the object, transforming it from a cloth kept under the sink into a voice for women today. Vanessa’s project aims to understand what domesticity means to women of all ages on a practical and experiential level in a world when, in the West at least, a woman can in theory be and do anything. Have the ties to the kitchen sink finally been severed, or is domesticity still ultimately considered a female responsibility?
To fully take part in the workshop you will need the following easy to obtain supplies
A yellow domestic duster (available at all main supermarkets)
Red thread
Embroidery hoop
Embroidery scissors
Pencil or fabric marking pen.
A yellow domestic duster (available at all main supermarkets)
Red thread
Embroidery hoop
Embroidery scissors
Pencil or fabric marking pen.
