“The People’s Sewing Circle” is taking place at the Main Branch of the Richmond Public Library this Saturday. This interactive event hopes to bring together community members to share their unique histories while working together to create art.
“The People’s Sewing Circle” is taking place at the Main Branch of the Richmond Public Library this Saturday. This interactive event hopes to bring together community members to share their unique histories while working together to create art. Mark Strandquist and Courtney Bowles, the creators of The People’s Library Project, had the idea to create a rag-rug to be displayed along with the project’s appearance at Social Paper, an exhibition of socially engaged art related to “craft, labor and site specificity,” occurring at Columbia College Chicago’s Center for Book and Paper Arts in Spring 2014. At the conclusion of the exhibition, the rug will be placed on display along with the People’s Library Project, at its permanent home in the Richmond Public Library.
“The People’s Sewing Circle” is a collaborative project with Girls Rock! RVA. Knowing that Girls Rock! RVA planned on having a sewing activity at the library in November, and being supporters of the feminist non-profit, Bowles and Strandquist reached out to Girls Rock! RVA organizer and Richmond librarian Patty Conway to see if her organization would be interested in combining efforts. “It was a perfect match, so we sort of molded and developed it together,” Strandquist said.
The ideas of The People’s Library and Girls Rock! RVA are similar, in that both groups advocate giving voices to under-represented individuals in the community. This approach stands in opposition to “the dominant narratives normally categorized as history,” Conway said. “I like the idea of young girls feeling empowered to share their personal histories and experiences, and to do that in a reflective way with a group. We have girls ranging from ages 8-14, and it’s cool to have an 8 year-old feeling like she can share in a discussion with adults. Her voice matters, her history is important.”
The People’s Sewing Circle project intends to help participants engage with the rug they are creating in terms of history: the history of the object’s everyday use, and the history of the labor that built or made it. “That’s something that we normally don’t understand or connect,” Strandquist said. The activity involved in the project emphasizes interdependence–the idea that all societal accomplishments come from the connected work done by a variety of people, not just one individual. Those helping to create the rag-rug will use tools made by Bowles and Strandquist to knot together various fabrics and create their own personal section of the rug. The creators hope to emphasize interdependence through activities involving repurposing used materials, as well as skill sharing–if individuals attending the event don’t have knowledge or experience with knotting, there will be helpers there to assist them.
While community members are encouraged to bring their own fabrics for usage, there will be fabrics on hand regardless, as the project has received donations from Books, Bikes and Beyond Thrift Store and other local individuals. “We have a monstrous amount of fabric that is looked at as like a box of crayons,” Strandquist said. “We will have a big pile of different colors and patterns for people to go through and choose from as they put together their rugs.” After all the personal sections of the rug have been created, they will be knotted together to form one collaborative rug. The shape of the collaborative rug has not been predetermined; Strandquist hopes it will be “organic,” just as the event itself is intended to be.
During the process, Strandquist and Bowles hope to guide conversation by introducing topics related to home and memories, hopefully facilitating the sharing of personal histories amongst the group. “A sewing circle is a traditional way of bringing together people and to be able to do a fun, simple activity while sharing conversation,” Bowles said. As conversations and histories are shared, they will be recorded and later played back as a sound accompaniment to the display of the rug in the library, allowing visitors to experience these stories. “I’m excited to see who comes, and to listen to people share their stories,” Bowles said. “I think a lot of time we are impatient and get distracted, making it hard to listen to people, to just talk. So participating in the same motion, we should be able to truly engage with one another.”
Come out this Saturday, November 9, from 12-4pm and join The People’s Library Project and Girls Rock! RVA at the Main Branch of the Richmond Public Library, located at 101 E. Franklin Street, for “The People’s Sewing Circle.” For more info, click here.
