Threading Boarders
Textile and Place Conference Manchester 2023
British Textile Biennale and Manchester Metropolitan University
Textiles offer a powerful way to reframe the discussion around asylum and refugee processes in the UK. As Regenerative Acts, textile-making fosters sustainable relationships between people and cities, moving beyond linear narratives of displacement. By creating textiles together, displaced individuals not only express their identities but also regenerate connections to heritage, environments and memory.
Through the lens of non-places (e.g., temporal homes or transit spaces), textiles bridge the gap between time, space, and memory, allowing people to connect with their past and create new bonds in transient environments. Whether made physically or digitally, textiles become a medium for exploring identity.
Recording
through yarn.
Through knotting, twisting, weaving, and plaiting, the act of making becomes a recording device—a subconscious process of gathering information while listening and responding automatically. This tactile 'fidgeting' can often reveal more about one’s response to information than oral feedback. The tension, repetitive motions, and disentangling of fibers mirror the complexities of processing emotions, signaling stress, anxiety, or the act of sharing and connecting through the yarn. This method of recording offers a unique way to navigate challenging conversations, allowing for non-verbal expressions of emotional states. This approach will later inform my practice and fieldwork, shaping workshop interviews and interactions.