Sewing Center Empowers Women In Iraq

A sewing center has been opened in Iraq. This will allow women to learn a marketable skill to support their families. Many of their husbands have been killed so it will enable them to earn money and be more independent.

This is a common theme. There are stories the similar to this all over the Internet. It is interesting that all across the world terrible events have been happening, and they have become a catalyst causing women to be propelled forward. Women are becoming stronger everywhere through a traditional domestic activity like sewing. It would be interesting to see how future generations of women will benefit.

Video 2 Arpilleras

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Video 1 On Arpilleras

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Above are two videos in a five part series on the Arpillera's. The first video is more focused on the government practices and has some violent imagery including pictures of torture victims. The 2nd video is more focused on the Arpilleras, and the women's roles in creating them.

Arpillera Movement

The Arpillera movement began in 1973 when the Pinochet government came to power in Chile. If you were in the previous governments military or if you spoke out against the new regime you were in danger. During this time,thousands of people disappeared, and the new government would not answer to their whereabouts. Families would search the prisons and the torture centers for their missing children and relatives and could not find answers. With the help of the Catholic church the women turned to sewing in order to express their loss, make extra money, and make a powerful political statement at the same time. The Arpillera movement was born. Arpillera which means sack cloth, are sewn on burlap, and incorporated a variety of individualized styles. What made the situation unique was that while the women were very much in danger they did have a bit more freedom than men in protesting the government. This was because women were not considered to be a serious threat. Also the Arpillerists were being aided by the Catholic Church. The church was a protected institution in Chile. This is a fantastic example of the subversive sewing that I was talking about earlier, as well as sewing as a form of empowerment. The Arpillerists were using sewing as a way to send a direct political message. The Arpilleras were intentionally created to be media. View the Arpillera's http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/quilts/exhibit/chilean_arpilleras.html More information http://wikis.lib.ncsu.edu/index.php/Arpilleristas More Information http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/102799/chilean_arpilleras_threads_of_resistance.html

Names Project Quilt

This is my very favorite example of Sewing As Media. I adore the Names Project Quilt. The idea was formed by Cleve Jones in 1987 when the world was still learning about and still very much afraid of AIDS. What was unfortunate was that AIDS was viewed very much as a disease that was the product of sin so it was not getting the government support or recognition that it should have. The quilt was created as a memorial to commemorate the people that died of AIDS, ironically inspired by the murder of the San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk,(if anyone has seen the movie Milk that is who I am referring to.) Anyone can send in a 3 by 6 panel to the project, the only requirements are that the name of the person who died from AIDS is incorporated into the design of the quilt and the size of the panel must be 3 by 6. However, on looking over the panels, it seems people are not always including names. What is so staggeringly beautiful, is how personalized the panels of the quilt are. You can see so much of the individuality of people in the quilt. I am so moved by the stories behind them. It is so powerful because once you start really looking at the panels of the quilt you start seeing the lives behind the statistics, which is a very powerful message. The quilt takes the terrible disease and empowers people. It gives them a way to commemorate those they have lost and it becomes a very strong political message, just by existing.
http://www.aidsquilt.org/history.htm

In Sierra Leone A Women's Project For Women

Women that were abducted in Sierra Leone's civil war over diamond mines have been given an opportunity to start over through sewing. These women have been raped, abducted, and held captive for years. Some have been forced into marriages and have had the babies of their rapists. The war is now over but many of these women remain ostracized by their families because of what happened to them. An Austrian judge helped start the sewing school as a way of helping women gain independence. "When the women graduate from the program, their clothing is displayed and sold in a show at the Special Court. The women are given those proceeds, a sewing machine and $100 in seed money and sent back home to start their own businesses." (Los Angeles Times)

It is incredibly sad to me that these women have gone through years of being held captive, years of rape only to have their families reject them. It is upsetting to me because the raping of women to gain control has been going on since the beginning; so little really changes. Also, these women had to suffer partially because of the world's demand for Diamonds. After I saw the movie Blood Diamond, I never would want a diamond engagement or wedding ring unless I knew where it came from. However, as I look down at my fingers I count sixteen little diamonds, am I a part of the problem? I wish there was some sort of ethical standard that had to be marked on products, the equivalent of the surgeon generals warning so we would know, our purchase led this cow to suffer for years in a confined area, or that our purchase was part of an 8 year old girl working for 12 hours, etc. Someone I know was hired to insullate a veal farm and the baby cows were crying, he could not work on the inside of it, seeing all of their suffering. We buy meat every day and don't think of this. These animals are crying and scared, essentially many of them are tortured. We don't know how all of the little things we do can hurt others, our actions seem innocent but if the western world did not need diamonds would these women have suffered in the same way? I don't really know the answer; obviously there were problems in the country anyway.

I think this article shows how empowering sewing can be. These women are coming out of years of forced imprisonment and torture, but they can learn to sew and therefore get their lives back. They can gain independence. The Austrian judge that founded this program is a hero.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-bush-wives1-2009sep01,0,1598357.story

Sewing Circles of Herat

On re-reading my intro to my blog, I mentioned subversive sewing and how sewing is does not get banned by the government, thus allowing people a freedom of expression through the medium of sewing. However, aside from the Bolivian prostitutes I have yet to mention much subversive sewing. This brings us to my favorite sewing topic, which is political resistance and sewing. Below is a link to a review of the book "The Sewing Circles of Herat". I must admit that I have not read the entire book; however, I did read the chapter dedicated to a sewing circle. For any of you that don't know too much about the Taliban, I will share a little of what I know. You see the Taliban had taken away so much from women, and really all of the people of Afghanistan. The Taliban would take away your father for example and say that they will torture and kill him if you don't come and torture and kill for us. How awful and what a position to be put in; any of us would want to save our families. Under the Taliban women had to be covered,and could not be educated; however,women were still allowed to sew. One man used the guise of a sewing circle to educate women in his home. Obviously, this was very brave, as he was risking torture and death. While this sewing circle did not actually sew and spent their time learning, I think it is worth mentioning because it shows how powerful the act of sewing can be. Because it is functional, it is protected.

http://www.cs.brown.edu/~sk/Personal/Books/Lamb-Sewing-Circles-Herat/