Women & Domesticity – What’s your Perspective?:Workshop and Display

Workshop:Women and domesticity – What’s Your Perspective? Investigating common experiences and perspectives through creative collaboration. A collection of hand-embroidered dusters.Since 2014 Vanessa Marr has been running a participatory arts-based research project exploring the relationship between women and domesticity, asking anyone from the community, from all walks of life, artists and non-artists, to commit through thread their own views and experiences on this theme. Notably predominantly women have responded. The result is a growing collection of over 100 hand-embroidered dusters featuring personal reflections and insights including poetic quotes, resentful statements, images and fond memories. The research is particularly focused on the transformation that occurs to both object and participant when engaged with the cloth through stitching. Drawing upon the notions of collaboration, self-reflection and craft activism Vanessa is exploring how modern women see themselves in a domestic context whilst also taking inspiration from her own artistic practice. This project opens up opportunities for ongoing dialogue on the often-silent task of housework, discussing common social experiences and commenting upon the experiences and perspectives of women across the distinctions of age, social class and geographical context. The collection is regularly exhibited, ‘performing’ a collection of voices that call for acknowledgement. Display:This display features a selection of embroidered dusters created as part of a participatory arts-based research project, which explores the relationship between women and domesticity. Artist and lecturer Vanessa Marr is asking anyone from the community, from all walks of life, artists and non-artists, to commit through thread their own views and experiences on this theme. The result is a growing collection of hand-embroidered dusters featuring personal reflections and insights including poetic quotes, resentful statements, images and fond memories. The dusters are presented as a silent performance of up to a hundred different yet predominantly female voices.