Media Room

Stories in the Cloth

Stories in the Cloth, opening May 12 at the Textile Center of Minnesota, presents the textile traditions of East African, Hispanic, and Hmong immigrant/refugee women at the same time as it tells stories of change and transition through women's textile work. Margaret Miller, executive director of the Textile Center, says, "Each culture has its textile traditions, and we are honored to present this show of both traditional and new work from the immigrant community. We believe that the 'common thread' textiles provide will help bring our community together."

Stories in the Cloth will run from May 12 through June 24 at the Textile Center. The opening cultural celebration, May 12, will be from 6 to 8 PM, and it will feature ethnic food and entertainment. A Textile Global Market, where the public can buy ethnic textiles and see demonstrations will be held on May 13 from 10:30 AM to 4 PM at the Textile Center.

Curated by Doroth Mayer and Karen Searle, five community-based organizations have participated in the development of the work for Stories in the Cloth over the past four years. The YWCA of Minneapolis, Neighborhood House located at the Paul and Sheila Wellstone Center for Community Building, the Seward Neighborhood Group (SNG), the Confederation of Somali Community of Minnesota (CSCM), and the Association of the Advancement of Hmong Women in Minnesota (AAHWM) have provided resources, space, and staff support. The idea for developing the show was originated by Mayer and Joyce Yamamoto, Director of Racial Justice & Public Policy at the YWCA of Minneapolis. The concept grew out of the Stitch of Time intergenerational program.

Both Mayer and Yamamoto are artists and community workers who believe that art connects people and creates cultural understanding through our senses and souls rather than merely intellectually. The YWCA of Minneapolis contracted with Mayer to start a quilt project that would engage women from multiple cultural traditions in telling their stories, Mayer recruited Searle, Searle and Mayer approached Miller and the Textile Center, and Stories in the Cloth was born.

Neighborhood House located at the Paul and Sheila Wellstone Center for Community Building on St. Paul's West Side was the first community organization to participate in Stories in the Cloth. Searle and Mayer worked with Mujeres Hispanas en Acción (Hispanic Women in Action), an educational group for Latinas that meets weekly and is coordinated by Poli Fay. Approximately 25 women and girls-ranging in age from four to 70-each produced a quilt block that tells a story about her life in America for a group banner-style quilt. The quilt continues a tradition of the women sharing their lives, first through the publication of a booklet of stories documenting their journeys in a new land. "The quilt provides another way to share their story; it is a true labor of love for the women, as you see family history, pictures of their grandchildren, and the group photos of the Mujeres," said Renae Oswald-Anderson, Vice-President of Community Building. Neighborhood House has just moved into the Wellstone Center's new building, and the unique "Mujeres Quilt" will be unveiled at the building's grand opening, April 28 - 30; it will move to the Textile Center for the Stories in the Cloth exhibition; and in July after the show, it will be installed permanently in the Paul and Sheila Wellstone Center for Community Building.

The next community organization to become involved was the Seward Neighborhood Group (SNG). Living in Seward Together was a project that involved East African women from the Seward Towers and European-American women residents in the Seward community in a community-building project to create a story quilt. A series of twelve workshops included participants ranging in age from 13 to 70. Basic quilting techniques were introduced, as well as photo transfer and bead work. Lori Stone, Executive Director of SNG says, "This project turned out to be much more than a community art initiative- women felt confident and safe to speak English and developed friendship circles that endure today. The women continue to meet regularly for coffee social hours and ask us repeatedly to continue providing creative projects like this." According to Shegitu Kebede who provided translation and organizing services, "The Textile Project was one of the most fun projects I have worked on. The project brought women and girls of all ages together and we all had a lot of fun. I have seen determination, hard work, caring and a lot of giving. We will treasure this memory for years to come."

The Confederation of Somali Communities of Minnesota's East African Women's Center, which opened in March, 2005 in the heart of the Cedar Riverside neighborhood, got involved with Stories in the Cloth just months after the Center opened. In the fall of 2005, an elder woman came into the Center to ask if she could purchase some yarn she had seen through the window. When a Center staff person asked what she was planning to do with it, she pulled a beautiful weaving from her bag, and the idea for a Women's Artisan Cooperative was conceived. Currently, 10 women are producing traditional weavings with patterns hundreds if not thousands of years old. Saeed Fahia, Executive Director of CSCM, says, "According to members of my community, this may be the only place in the world outside of Somalia where our cultural textile traditions are being continued."

Hmong women who have come from Wat in Thailand within the last 18 months are the most recent textile artists to join Stories in the Cloth. They are meeting under the auspices of the Association for the Advancement of Hmong Women in Minnesota in St. Paul.

Although none of the eight women have used sewing machines, their handwork is extraordinary. Working with Searle and Mayer, they are combining their traditional skills with new sewing skills and creating a group quilt together. Some of women's personal work will also be included in the show. AAHWM project coordinator, Douacha Vang, says, "When the women started this project, they were all living at Mary's Place, a shelter for the homeless in Minneapolis. This project has given the women hope and inspiration during this confusing and hopeless time of transition."

The Textile Center of Minnesota is a national center for fiber art. Its mission is to promote excellence in fiber art and preserve textile traditions. Located at 3000 University Avenue SE in Minneapolis, the Textile Center represents and supports fiber artists working in all forms of textile media including weaving, quilting, knitting, sewing, needlework, lace making, basketry, and beading. A critical part of the Textile Center's mission is to bring validation and visibility to this field of art. Textile arts arise from all cultures and the Textile Center works to preserve traditional forms as well as to encourage experimentation and the development of new fiber art forms.

Come see Stories in the Cloth and support our community's diverse cultural traditions and the women who are maintaining it with their creative work. Join the Textile Center and the supporting organizations for opening night, May 12. Come to shop on May 13 at the Textile Global Market. And see the show AGAIN through June 24.

For information please call: Joyce Yamamoto, 612-215-4136 or email or Doroth Mayer, 612-722-0869.