QUILT OF THE DEAD workshops
In 2005, Quilt of the Dead was exhibited at the 3rd Fukuoka Asian Art Triennale in Japan. One of the programmes during the triennale was Asian Arts Festival. It was a great opportunity for artists to interact with the public.
I ran an embroidery workshop there. I've asked each of the participants of my workshop to bring along a photograph of a family member, friend or pet who/which had passed away. During the workshop, they embroidered these portraits together with me.
Through this and subsequent workshops, I was able to interact with the participants about the lives and death of the people & pets they were embroidering, their relationship with the deceased and how their own lives where affected by these deaths.
Also, I hoped the workshops provided therapeutic experiences for the participants.
( NOTE: please click below to view the workshops.)
Materials for workshop
Participant's wrist is tied with a piece of red string. This string symbolically binds the participant to the the deceased whom is being embroidered. After the participant completed the embroidery, I cut the string, as a ritual of releasing the participant's bad memories or sadness associated with the deceased.
A young participant embroidering an image of her great grandmother.
