Visiting MA Sequential Design & Illustration

I had the pleasure of running a workshop last Wednesday back where this project started. I graduated from MA Sequential Design & Illustration back in 2014 after studying part-time for two years. My original dusters, which I stitched for my final project, inspired me to begin this project. It was great to to back where it all began!

The group of about 30 students were welcoming and enthusiastic and I now have a lovely pile of newly stitched dusters to join the collection. It was great to see one of my ex-students among them and a good friend and teaching colleague too. As always I’m so grateful for those who shared their stories with me and for the growing list of new ideas and artist to explore. Thank you to all those who took part, it was wonderful to meet you!

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Upcoming Lunchtime Lecture at Ditchling Museum of Art & Craft

I’m excited to announce that I’ve been invited to give a talk about this project at the Ditchling Museum of Art & Craft in September, to link to their new exhibition on Women’s Work, which open this weekend.

Tickets can be booked here: http://www.ditchlingmuseumartcraft.org.uk/product/vanessa-marr/

 

‘Sharing’ the chores

This article in the Guardian sums it up so well. Help implies that the responsibility falls elsewhere, i.e. with the woman. This is a repeating discussion theme in duster workshops.

If we want to see change then it needs to be talked about. Why not start by adding your experiences to a duster…

Workshops at Ditchling Museum of Art & Craft

We’re half way through a brilliant weekend at Ditchling Museum. I’ve been privileged to meet so many interesting women and to share thoughts and stories with new visitors and longtime supporters of the project alike. Excited for another day of stitching and putting the world to right!

Dusters at Ditchling and meeting Sarah Corbett!

I was privileged to meet Sarah Corbett of the Craftivist Collective  at Ditchling Museum of Art & Craft last night when she gave a talk about her practice of gentle activism. It was inspiring to hear her passion for changing the world, from the big things to the little things, and how she encourages the use of embroidery to pass on quiet messages that are listened to where shouting fails. It helped me to reflect on the purpose of this project, which is ultimately to give a voice to the domestic experiences of women, in the hope that we will see the female bind of domesticity being released.

I was also really excited to see the duster packs for sale in the shop. The whole collection will be on display alongside a drop-in workshop all weekend from the 4-5th August.

Family dusters!

We had a great afternoon at Sutton library yesterday with some new additions to the collections created through combined efforts: a Mum and her two daughters plus another mother and son. I hadn’t anticipated the kids wanting to get involved but it turned into an interesting conversation about who does the cleaning at home and who the children think it will do the housework when they grow up.

This is Lilly proudly holding her duster, which explores predefined gender roles by asking who does the decorating? Above her hangs duster made by her mum Donna and younger sister, which declares the woman a true treasure for completing so many tasks!

This is Ronnie, the first little boy to make a duster with help from Mum Carly. He chose to show his mum now and as a little girl playing beside him as a boy. The piece is called ‘becoming mummy’.

We also had fun learning to sew and exploring collage as a means of expressing your ideas.

I’d rather be reading…

A big thank you to Elizabeth Eldridge, mother of Felicity who stitched a duster a couple of weeks ago at Sutton Library, for her contribution to the project: “I’d rather be reading, my PhD isn’t in cleaning”. A sentiment that many of us share I think!

She believed she could and she did

It was exciting to receive another new submission for the collection from Reshmi Nalini at Sutton Library this morning. Her statement is one that can inspire us all!

Brighton Futures

It’s privilege to have a detail of the duster I embroidered for the recent Marks Make Meaning exhibition and symposium at the University of Brighton featured in the publicity for Brighton Futures – the five themes for research and enterprise at the University of Brighton. ‘The Brighton Futures tackle today’s most pressing challenges through collaborative research and enterprise, generating new insights and practical solutions to improve lives and transform the way we live’, which perfectly reflects the ideas that underpin this project.

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