STITCHING STORIES |
THE RED DRESS & SAMBHALI SUTRA with Defashion Dorset
Hawkers Farm, 29th Nov - 5th Dec 2024
Bringing together voices from around the world through stitch; The Red Dress (2009-2023) and Sambhali Sutra (Rajasthan, India 2019)
The Red Dress is A 14-year, award winning global, collaborative embroidery project 2009 to 2023. Conceived by British artist Kirstie Macleod, the garment provides an artistic platform for individuals around the world (predominantly women) many of whom are vulnerable and live in poverty, to tell their personal stories through embroidery: www.reddressembroidery.com/press
As part of the Red Dress’s ongoing world tour, the garment will be on display with panels from Sambhali in The Barn at Hawkers Farm, Dorset, November 29th – December 5th 2024.
From 2009 to 2023, pieces of the Red Dress travelled the globe being continuously embroidered onto. Constructed out of 87 pieces of burgundy silk dupion, the garment has been worked on by 367 women/girls, 11 men/boys and 2 non-binary artists from 51 countries. All 141 commissioned embroiderers were paid for their work, and receive a portion of all ongoing exhibition fees, merchandise, and the opportunity to sell their work through The Red Dress Etsy shop. The rest of the embroidery was added by willing audiences at various exhibitions & events.
The Red Dress has been exhibited in various galleries and museums worldwide, including Gallery Maeght in Paris, Art Dubai, Museo Des Arte Popular in Mexico City, the National Library of Kosovo, National Waterfront Museum in Wales, Fashion and Textile Museum, London, an event at the Royal Academy in London, Frick and Fuller Cra_ Museums in the USA and the Premio Valcellina Textiles award in Maniago, Italy where it won first prize in 2015.
The exhibition will also see the display of a series of large, brightly coloured stitched panels created by vulnerable women supported by the Sambhali Trust in Rajasthan, India. The women each produced a work telling their story and what it is to be a woman in India.
The empowerment of disadvantaged women and children in Rajasthan through the Sambhali Trust has been Govind Rathore’s driving force for over 17 years, with a mission to break the cycle of poverty and dependence by providing underprivileged communities with safe space and vocational training. More than 57,000 women and children have been reached.
The historic setting of Hawkers Farm has breathtaking views across the Blackmore Vale. The creative vision of
Jennifer Morisetti, who converted an old milking parlour into a sustainable sewing hub which is now home to
Hawkers Re-Creatives. Here you will find; Wear Me Out - special occasion outfits and hats to borrow, Second to None - a collection of natural fibre second hand clothes for sale and mending and redesigning workshops. Jennifer is also the Founder of Defashion Dorset, which brings local fibre producers together with makers to encourage a local
clothing culture.
