Stitch for Change is an initiative led by the Refugee Buddy Project, a refugee and migrant-led charity that supports integration and provides friendship to all people seeking refuge and safety in Hastings, Rother and Wealden areas. Now in its fourth year, Stitch for Change seeks to tell stories of resilience, survival, and belonging through the collective and healing process of textile-making and storytelling, with local and refugee communities coming together to share their experiences.
Responding to the theme of ‘Community as a Superpower’, this exhibition presented in the De La Warr Pavilion’s Rooftop Foyer and North Staircase showcases a diverse collection of hand-crafted superhero capes which have been documented by local photographer and video maker Fizzel Castro. A soundscape of recorded voices, created by Tom Fryer and Lily Kim, captures the voices of Stitch for Change, while other elements of the installation consider ideas of home, housing, and community. Through the mediums of embroidery, patchwork and sculpture, each of the works carry a powerful message of connection, solidarity and hope by members of the local community.
The Stitch for Change workshops have been designed and facilitated by fashion designer Erin Lewis, working with groups based in Bexhill, Uckfield and Eastbourne. Participants were encouraged to explore their own superpowers and how this has helped them to be part of a support network or community. Several participants were also facing treatment or recovery from serious illness or first-time motherhood, and so these sessions provided both a network and sanctuary for people to relax and share experiences together.
The workshops were also attended by inspirational female artists, who shared their work and gave feedback on the works in progress: Delaine Le Bas, who work explores themes of protest, feminism and Romany identity, and fashion lecturer and textile artist, Lorraine Henry King, who shared her PhD research on the portrayal of Black superheroes in film.
Participants:
Fatima Akram Khan, Aisha Al Houry, Valentyna Dvoryadkina, Yuliia Babalian, Elena Babenko, Jenny Barker, Eva Bor, Christopher Brown, Kim Chau, Michele Eaton, Lucy Edogun, Tetiana Fazlyieva, Luibov Fedorovych, Felix Ford, Tetiana Goncharenko, Farzana Halimi, Khadija Khan, Larysa Krupa, Olena Lavrova, Rossana Leal, Nicola Le Sueur and baby Orson, Marlyn Lopez and baby Emilio, Ismat Meer, Olena Orlova, Khadija Ottelli, Ariane Plumley, Hasina Rahmani, Naznin Rahmani, Gabrielle Raven Bourne, Wendy Rowlett, Olya Rudenka, Valeriia Rudenka, Yevheniia Slobodyanuk, Antonina Sosiedova, Solia Sosiedova, Villi Veber, Steph Warren, Kim Whiting.
Acknowledgments:
Lily Kim and Olena Lavrova (Refugee Buddy Project Coordinators), Uckfield Library, Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain (Eastbourne Branch), John Pidcock, Sophie Quinn, Andrew Grainger, Joanna Kirby, Stella Dore Gallery, Craig Lawrence, and all those who donated the textiles that were upcycled for this project.
