The Patchwork Healing Blanket: Piece by Piece and Country by Country
La Manta de Curación: Pieza por pieza y de País en País
Contact: Mamaz Collective (Women artist and maize), Mujer Arte de Oaxaca (Women Art
from Oaxaca), Miku Meko and Centro de Difusión Cultural Casa del Tiempo, Universidad
Autónoma Metropolitana (The University is one of the largest public universities in Mexico
City that was founded in 1974)
Email patchworkhealingblanket2019@gmail.com
Facebook: Patchwork Healing Blanket: Piece by Piece and Country by Country/La Manta
de Curación:Pieza por Pieza y de País en País
WHO: Women from Oaxaca and all over Mexico unite with Sisters from Around the
World
What: The Patchwork Healing Blanket – Piece by Piece and Country by Country public art
project and demonstration against violence towards women, children and Mother Earth!
We will construct a giant quilt and carry it into the Zocalo in Mexico City, then transport it
to the US border, where we will throw it over the wall to our sisters on the other side.
When: January 26, 2020
Where: Zócalo, Mexico City (Women’s Awareness Awaking, Border Wall Action and World
Tour dates TBA)
Why: Women from around the world are coming together in a massive demonstration against violence
toward all women and children—increasing femicides, the disappearance of women and children for sex
trafficking, state-sponsored abuse of immigrant and refugee families crossing borders, and the destruction
of Mother Earth by mining and petroleum companies. As mothers, we say Enough! Stop violence,
exploitation, hunger, poverty, and the destruction of our planet. We are the change that needs to happen!
We call on women around the world to join us and say: ¡Ya basta!, Enough your
disrespect to us all!
On January 26, 2020 in Mexico City’s central Zócalo, hundreds of women artists, artisans,
activists, teachers, doctors, mothers, grandmothers, and daughters from Oaxaca, Mexico,
will bring together women from all over the world for a powerful peace demonstration
called The Patchwork Healing Blanket: Piece by Piece and Country by Country.
This event will be a meditative action and consciousness-raising demonstration against
violence towards women, children, and Mother Earth. We will construct a huge patchwork
blanket with individual pieces made by women from around the world: handembroidered,
painted, written, and printed cloth that expresses our rage against violent
acts. Join us, to show we do have a “united voice as women” and we will make this change
happen!
From the Zócalo in Mexico City we will travel to the Border Wall with United States, and
throw our blanket over the wall to our sisters on the other side, who will be waiting to
receive it and carry it North to continue the journey into the United States, where
numerous Native American, Black, Latino and all our sisters also need our help against the
disrespect and crimes committed towards women, who are 50 percent of the world
population. That is why our united voices are so important so we can say, NOT ONE
MORE!
PRESS or interested organizations: FOR MORE INFORMATION ON COVERING THE EVENT,
CONTACT: patchworkhealingblanket2019@gmail.com
FOR WOMEN (of all cultures, religious beliefs and sexual preference), WHO
WANT TO PARTICIPATE AND CREATE A CLOTH PIECE.
CONTACT: Us by sending an email or message on Facebook and will write you back with
more info!
We call all women to produce a piece for this event and for the journey it will take to
other countries. If you are interested in participating in this project or want it to come to
your city or town please write us and join the forces of women working with us to make
this happen.
Join us by using a cotton, hemp or bamboo material in natural color 27 ½ x 27 ½ inches.
(70 cm x 70 cm) leaving enough border space to sew it to the other pieces. We will
connect these squares to each other; one by one we will make the healing blanket. You
can embroider, appliqué, patchwork, paint, print or write text on these cloth pieces to
express your thoughts and feelings about these issues. You can make one or as many as
you like to connect to the other pieces. A team of artists and curators will help attach all
the pieces together. We will sew these pieces into blankets at planned events in the
various locations where we will display the artwork.
We need you to send us via email: patchworkhealingblanket2019@gmail.com
Name
Email
Country
Photos of the piece
Statement or your story (if you would like to share with us for our Facebook page)
Send to us no later than November 18, 2019
Send your piece to the following address in Mexico City:
La Casa del Tiempo
Pedro Antonio de los Santos No. 84
Col. San Miguel Chapultepec, Miguel Hidalgo, C.P. 11850
Cuidad de Mexico, Mexico
For English speaker call (your code) 52 9511796039 for more information
Send art piece to USA address before October 20, 2019
Sandra Pacheco 142 Flying Dutchman Ct. Vallejo CA 94591
Paypal: sandypacheco@earthlink.net
The purpose of our The Healing Patchwork Blanket: Piece-by-Piece and Country-by-
Country is to unite all women to join our movement. We believe that violence towards
women and children are connected with the abuse and rape of Mother Earth. Our land,
our water, our air are being destroyed due to greed and power by a few. We believe we
need to come together to make a conscious effort to change our societies to understand
the importance of our Mother Earth and all species that live on this planet especially our
children.
BACKGROUND:
What is Patchwork? Patchwork is a form of sewing. The oldest patchwork cloths emerged
from the need to mend garments thousands of years ago. This technique evolved into the
cutting and forming of larger pieces for bed covers or clothing in modern times. In some
communities, patchwork unites people who share similar concerns or simply share
resources to help each other, creating a cooperative community. We draw from the
philosophical movement Art as Activism.
The term “Craftivism” describes using craft material such as patchwork as part of social
protest. In reality, for centuries, women have used threads and needles to help their
families and communities all over the world. This unifying historical memory will unite us
all, like our mothers and grandmothers before us. This is a Social Art Project that has
never been seen in Mexico at this scale. Our public art piece will demand security for
women, children and a natural habitat that is being damaged by mining companies,
politicians, and criminal drug companies.
Mexico is just one country in danger, but we know we are connected with our neighbors
to the North and to the South. We are one planet but unfortunately, the leaders of
individual countries think only of defending their own borders. That is a dangerous
mistake and shows great ignorance on the part of the entire world.
Why is the call coming from Oaxaca?
We are one of the states of Mexico whose ancient indigenous cultures have kept their
traditions alive for centuries. Oaxaca has sixteen indigenous cultures, 22 languages and
150 spoken dialects. We are having an alarming rise of femicides in our communities.
Almost three quarters of the state is governed by the system of “customs and traditions”;
this is a recognized local form of self-governance in our indigenous communities. We have
used the system of tequio as a means of working together to better our communities for
hundreds of years to make ourselves stronger. We are asking you to join us in a global
tequio, and make this a world community project, towards these injustices that are taking
place around the world! It is the indigenous communities to the North and to the South
that have expressed concern of the destructions of our mother earth, her rivers, her
mountains, her forest and deserts and seas and who many of these indigenous leaders
have been killed for trying to save and defend her. We ask you, to join us to save our
mother earth and her children.
Why do we call all Women?
Because we are being affected directly. We are being violated! Our children are being
harmed. We are concerned for the well being of our families. Yet we are told daily to keep
quiet, and we see we have no future in some communities. We may be sold and killed
along with our children. Unfortunately, some people are very sick and evil, and all of us
must end the great harm being done to women and children, our Mother Earth. We are
told we cannot make a difference because we are only women. We are half of the world
population and our children make another 27 percent so we say ¡Ya basta!!! It is our voice
that needs to yell and scream and be heard over and over again around the world! Enough
!! ¡Ya basta!
No comments:
Post a Comment