miranda texidor: Sewing Groups Grupos de Costura en Franja Arte Comunidad

This is the last sewing workshop with women from the coastal town of ENGABAO in Ecuador. Beautiful experience, we will continue with its implementation and follow up. We will be deepening into women´s rights while we continue to sew and maintain this safe intimate space of friendship and confidence.

Este es el último taller de costura con mujeres de la comuna de ENGABAO en la costa del Guayas. Una experiencia maravillosa mientras le damos sostenimiento a La Franja arte Comunidad y a los talleres. Estaremos haciendo hincapié en los derechos de las mujeres mientras seguimos cosiendo y manteniendo este espacio libre y salvo para la amistad y la confianza.

Maria Fernanda Cartagena y yo en el taller

Cortando...

Agapito y su tela

En pleno trabajo

Since 2007 I have created various sewing groups driven by the needs to provide a space for communal gathering, for the recuperation of a feminine space of talk and sharing, and for the community love for socially based sewing. In my initial exploration of this working method, I worked with a women’s collective which was not focused on creating objects devoid of their context. We focused principally on generating sharing, warmth, and community among women. Our first project, realized in the context of Al-Zurich Festival 2007 with women from the South of Quito- Ecuador, was "Regalos" or "Gifts"
a project that involved sewing and dancing as gifts creating an alternative economy of affections and exchanges.

We subsequently created the “30 x 30 Quilt” Project. We asked women from around Latin America to participate by making an autobiographical 30 by 30 centimeter sewn square. We then worked together with artist Andrea Sica’s (from Uruguay) "Belly button project," wherein we sewed our squares together and sent them to Uruguay to be sewn together with their local squares. Most of the women participants were not self defined as artists per se; most were dedicated sewers or knitters in their own right.

Simultaneously, we created another sewing group called "Hilando Fino" on the coast of Ecuador within the context of the artist residency Solo con Natura in 2009. The project invited women from this coastal community to gather together and sew their own personal stories. These women often came with the strong burden of adolescent pregnancies and general violence against them. The project proved to be an excellent channel for their various interests and a great support system. The group has also started to create their own objects such as banners and pillow covers. They are still meeting every week and I sure hope they can continue their group to see it flourish.