Mending Memory: Sunday Aug 3, 1-3p
The current group show at Ely Center curated by Leeza Meksin and Tamar Ettun considers the primary and fundamental nature of textiles as the body's first dwelling. The exhibition premise stems from Ann Hamilton’s interview in which she states:
Textiles are the body's first house, the body's first architecture.” This statement alludes both to textile’s relationship to the domestic as well as to the nomadic. There is something about the nature of textile that lends itself to travel — it can be packed small, transported relatively easily, made with modest resources while growing expansive and commanding space.
In two intergenerational workshops that connect to the diverse work on display within Body's First Architecture, Ely Center of Contemporary Art will debut its upstairs Materials Kitchen as a trading post for nomadic makers. The Ely Center’s Summer Yale President’s Public Service Fellow Kristin B. Eno welcomes the New Haven community to explore materials and methods of mending memory and making nomadic dwellings. Makers of all ages are invited to select from Ely’s newly-curated mini materials center, modeled after REMIDA in Reggio Emilia and the Teaching Beyond the Square Materials Center in NYC, which also serves as an active offsite partner to CT’s own Ecoworks.
On Sunday August 3 from 1-3p, participants are invited to bring in articles of clothing or various other fabric-made objects in need of mending. Artists will connect fibers from their own possessions in response to the provocation of “mending memory,” utilizing fabric, yarn, ribbon, thread and filament to connect broken threads. As the curators of Body’s First Architecture write,
Working in this way now offers a surprisingly new (yet ancient) approach to engaging with our world’s problems. The work of mending textile and sewing pieces together, literally and figuratively creates connection and interconnectedness rather than tearing things apart. Meanwhile, the softness and malleability of fabric stands in contrast to the rigid, unyielding geometry of our dwellings, helping us find a way to heal through touch, playfulness, color and the hand-made.
This workshop is free and open to the public. Families are encouraged to bring all ages, and to spend time choosing diverse materials and experimenting with various techniques of sewing, embroidery, weaving and braiding, and to work together to layer various colors and textures of repair, support and beauty.
The second workshop in this series, MINIATURE NOMADIC DWELLINGS, will happen at the Ely Center on Thursday August 21 from 5-7pm.