The Open Door: Women’s Quilt of Pride
United Kingdom & France 2023/24
A year long participatory textile project engaging more than 60 women based in the UK & France, creating a 6×3 meter quilt installation telling stories of aspiration, resistance and celebration exploring the themes of home and womanhood across borders.
THE OPEN DOOR is a large retrospective exhibition about belonging and displacement across time and space by TisnaWesterhof and Aude Hérail Jäger. The project evolved from a series of conversations during the 2020 pandemic, when the two artists started exchanging thoughts and creative ideas about notions of home, the significance of childhood memories and family ties, especially during times of separation.
An integral part of The Open Door project is the Women’s Quilt of Pride, is a collaborative piece of textile art created in workshops with members of the local communities in France and London. Led by Tisna Westerhof, the participants were invited to dedicate a textile square or larger collaborative applique piece to an inspirational woman, family member, or public figure. The experience of personal expression through an ancient craft forming a cathartic bond between the participants while the resulting quilts serve as testaments of togetherness and hope. Working together with local charities and community groups, participants included young art students, retired women and women survivors of domestic abuse.
“The Women’s Quilt of Pride patchworks and the artworks at The Open Door exhibition demonstrate the importance of brave spaces for conversation, reflection and self-actualization. And in co-creation, it reveals our inherent capacity and potential to connect with each other and to be a much-needed umbilical cord for humanity” Dr. Farhana Hoque
Partners:
LAC-Lieu d’Art Contemporain, Narbonne, France
hARTslane, London
IKWRO, Women’s Rights Organisation, London
The Feminist Library in Peckham, London
Atelier Couture et Patchwork A.C.A.D. (Académie du Temps Libre, Narbonne), France
Ecole des Beaux-Arts de Sète, France
Maison de Retraite EHPAD, Narbonne France
Institut L’Amandier, Section Internationale, Lézignan-Corbières, France
Film by Paper-Clip, Remke Westerhof
PR support: Meike Brunkhorst
Press: Souvenirs Sans Frontières, Trebuchet
https://aicafrance.org/open-the-door-au-l-a-c-de-sigean-11/
You can order The Open Door Publication at Waterstones
Texts: Bernard Tenon De Noilles, Marie Stefan Salgas, Dr Farhana Hoque, Miri de Villers, Aude Hérail Jäger
Translations: Laura Bennett, Nathalie Reis
Graphic design: Bastien Candille
Photography: David Huguenin, Bastien Candille
Supported by:
