The Walking with Pride and Power Project
A collaborative and transnational living artwork that resists and renounces the persecution of Queer and marginalized people globally, is based on the conviction that textiles are historical and powerful sites of storytelling.
The art piece is a rag-rug that tells stories through textile and text. Both traditional and radical in content and form, each person braids a piece from recycled fabrics they find appealing or have special meaning. Everyone is invited to attach a written word, poetry or prose to their shape that reflects on the experience, the self or society. They may remain anonymous or include contact information that invites connections. Then the individual pieces are attached together into a communal living art piece using the same braiding technique. Assembling the materials, colors and designs that tell unique stories of difference, struggle, resistance, and strength.
The process of crafting empowers and heals. Braiding individually and together in a ‘labor of love’, sharing our stories and forging local and global community in resistance. The archival tapestry, an ongoing project, travels to exhibition spaces internationally in places including the IHLIA Archive in Amsterdam, Radboud University in Nijmegen and Sitting Bull College on the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota. The collective piece includes pieces made in various places around the world and by various participants from diverse backgrounds. Embodying struggle, identity and allyship.
Join us! Gather your community or do it at home! Everyone who agrees with our mission is invited to become a part of the project. For instructions on how to braid refer to the Tutorials and contribute directly to this community art piece. Alternatively, if you are interested in exhibiting the ongoing archival tapestry or have any questions feel free to contact us!
