STICKSTOFF
Project in collaboration with Andrea Milde
Berlin / 2019
STICKSTOFF was a participatory project, which explored the theme of eating together using textile as medium. It was done in collaboration with Andrea Milde and funded by Bezirkskulturfonds Lichtenberg. Both Andrea and I live in Lichtenberg, which is situated in the Eastern side of Berlin. We explored our neighbourhood over several months by embroidering a giant tablecloth, inviting people to reflect upon sharing food through needlework.
When we started the project in spring 2019, we received recycled table cloths from a local textile company, Greif. We selected one giant cloth to be our basis and cut also smaller pieces for motifs that could be attached on the main canvas. Our journey in the neighbourhood began at the Egon-Erwin-Kisch library, followed by a community dinner at the local theatre and a farmers’ market at Stadtfarm. While some people took the time to sit down and embroider with us, some stayed for a short moment to share their thoughts. Sayings related to food in different languages, local dishes and personal memories were addressed frequently. To record all the stories in the stitches, we embroidered at home in between visiting places and started to form bigger stories from the single motifs.
Week by week the motifs on the cloth grew in colour and texture, with people of different ages leaving their mark. We continued our visits and brought the giant cloth to public places and neighbourhood events, sharing it also with friends and family. The theme of eating together was easy to relate to. The only issue that we encountered was an occasional embroidery trauma, which seemed to haunt especially the older generation who had to do needlework at school. For the younger generation stitching seemed more like drawing, free of rules.
Altogether almost 50 people participated in embroidering the tablecloth. On the right you can see some of the motifs. In September 2019 the embroidered piece and the related, collected stories were shown in an exhibition at Museum Kesselhaus. However, as there are still some white areas left in the fabric, it is likely that we’ll continue filling it until no empty space remains – and then we’ll have a big dinner.
Special thanks to all the people who embroidered with us as well as to Bezirkskulturfonds Lichtenberg, Museum Kesselhaus Herzberge, Greif Textile Mietsysteme and Stadtfarm for supporting our project.
STICKSTOFF was a participatory project, which explored the theme of eating together using textile as medium. It was done in collaboration with Andrea Milde and funded by Bezirkskulturfonds Lichtenberg. Both Andrea and I live in Lichtenberg, which is situated in the Eastern side of Berlin. We explored our neighbourhood over several months by embroidering a giant tablecloth, inviting people to reflect upon sharing food through needlework.
When we started the project in spring 2019, we received recycled table cloths from a local textile company, Greif. We selected one giant cloth to be our basis and cut also smaller pieces for motifs that could be attached on the main canvas. Our journey in the neighbourhood began at the Egon-Erwin-Kisch library, followed by a community dinner at the local theatre and a farmers’ market at Stadtfarm. While some people took the time to sit down and embroider with us, some stayed for a short moment to share their thoughts. Sayings related to food in different languages, local dishes and personal memories were addressed frequently. To record all the stories in the stitches, we embroidered at home in between visiting places and started to form bigger stories from the single motifs.
Week by week the motifs on the cloth grew in colour and texture, with people of different ages leaving their mark. We continued our visits and brought the giant cloth to public places and neighbourhood events, sharing it also with friends and family. The theme of eating together was easy to relate to. The only issue that we encountered was an occasional embroidery trauma, which seemed to haunt especially the older generation who had to do needlework at school. For the younger generation stitching seemed more like drawing, free of rules.
Altogether almost 50 people participated in embroidering the tablecloth. On the right you can see some of the motifs. In September 2019 the embroidered piece and the related, collected stories were shown in an exhibition at Museum Kesselhaus. However, as there are still some white areas left in the fabric, it is likely that we’ll continue filling it until no empty space remains – and then we’ll have a big dinner.
Special thanks to all the people who embroidered with us as well as to Bezirkskulturfonds Lichtenberg, Museum Kesselhaus Herzberge, Greif Textile Mietsysteme and Stadtfarm for supporting our project.
