Listening to the refugee experience

Delve into the origins of Manchester School of Art’s 180-year history and textile design emerges as a fundamental part of its existence. The first regional art school in England made its name providing skilled artisans for the manufacturing and textile boom of Manchester’s industrial revolution. 

Textile design remains a core element of craft provision alongside other innovative approaches within textile courses and as an art and design subject at the School. 

Drawing upon these traditional handmade, skill-based methods, Professor Alice Kettle combines this expert knowledge with new technologies such as digital stitching to shape her work.  

“I use technical skills combined with material and cultural knowledge as a concept of craft,” says Alice.  

“Within our research hub, we think about our practice in many ways. That might concern heritage, or social engagement for example, and my interest is in how material processes and textiles articulate all these ways of being in the world.” 

For Alice, who trained as a painter, a connection to Manchester was born when the Whitworth Art Gallery acquired the artwork Three Caryatids in the 1990s. She joined the Manchester School of Art in 2005. 

“I came from the generation where we were always making clothes at home,” explains Alice. “My mother was creative, and we always made things. I did a painting degree and went on to do textile art as a postgraduate. Painting very much informs my approach to textiles. I do large-scale work because I’m concerned with composition and the breadth of physical gesture through mark making.” 

MIGRATION AND DISPLACEMENT 

Narrative has always been present in Alice’s art and more recently has linked personal experiences with stories and mythologies. 

It was the surge in people movement across the Mediterranean and through Europe in 2014 and 2015, and the close involvement of a family member in humanitarian aid, which triggered themes of migration and displacement in her work. 

During this critical time of people displacement, hundreds of thousands of people fled their homelands to escape conflict and persecution. 

“Many UK citizens gave up their jobs and went out to Dunkirk and Calais to volunteer in support of refugees. My daughter was one of them,’’ says Alice. 

“It is one of the most challenging stories and encounters of our time. It made us examine our own motivations, our privilege, our notions of citizenship, human rights, and how we participate in world culture and society.” 

Upon hearing the first-hand accounts from refugees, in particular the profoundly upsetting themes of helplessness and hopelessness, Alice knew she had to respond. 

“I knew I must engage with this human tragedy. And the best way I could do that is where I have the strongest and most articulate voice, which is through the language of textiles,’’ says Alice. 

“It forced me to examine the purpose of art/craft and how it can present a different lens on events. Stitched textiles offered a way to unearth a different truth that is not about my own perspective and worldview but in service of those caught up in this profound tragedy. 

“Central to this approach was listening to the refugee experience. True listening, without prejudice, seeking to shift my unconscious preconceptions. Equally, this approach does not assume that we hold the power to make change. But it shows a determination to take steps to cause change through raising awareness, leading to an understanding as to how we address human dignity.” 

Stories through stitching 

The aim of Thread Bearing Witness was to learn about, respond and connect to refugees and other people seeking asylum.  

The project ran over 100 workshops for international refugees, using textiles and drawing as a tool to explore their personal experiences, emotions and memories.  

This included men, women and children from across England, the Pipka refugee camp in Greece, Dunkirk and Calais. 

Sea, Ground and Sky are three giant textile artworks and the central works among a variety of pieces. They immerse viewers in journeys taken by refugees and asylum-seekers from countries including Uganda, Eritrea, Congo, Somalia, Syria and Afghanistan.  

“These are universal sites – Sea, Ground and Sky – places that we are all a part of,” says Alice. “Sea is my response to the imagery seen through the media lens of the horror of the desperate sea journeys. It is my response as an observer of this human disaster.” 

Ground and Sky include embroidered imagery stitched from contributions gifted as drawings by survivors of these journeys who participated in the workshops.   

“This imagery is critical to the success of these artworks,” says Alice. “I’m truly indebted to all of the individuals who shared their journey with me.”  

Where possible, every person who contributed or made their own works was accredited.  

“If you are stitching, you can create a common dialogue that transcends language,” says Alice. “Textiles is an unthreatening medium and a powerful meeting point. Everyone has a relationship with textiles, it allows us to create connections through making and through its symbolic and material qualities.” 

Thread Bearing Witness centred on a major exhibition at the Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester in 2018. Alice worked with the Travelling Heritage Bureau project, a network of international women artists based in the North West, whose collaborative artworks were represented at the exhibition. The Travelling Heritage Bureau continues its work today.

The scale and international reach of the work demonstrate the impact and resonance of stitched textile in creating dialogue and demonstrating creativity as a fundamental human attribute.  

Alistair Hudson, Director of the Whitworth Art Gallery, attested to the project’s approach of transforming gallery space and exhibitions from spectacle to participatory spaces: “The first exhibition to present making as a way of understanding, processing and thinking about societal issues. It challenged established thinking about the value of making. Thread Bearing Witness reinstated the importance of art, expression, creativity and manufacturing…It influenced our thinking as an institution and changed the way the Whitworth worked with artists in the city.” 

Building a collective forest 

A further strand of Thread Bearing Witness was Stitch A Tree, inspired by a creative therapy drawing tool used by the Refugee Resilience Collective in refugee camps in Dunkirk. 

The idea was simple – demonstrate collective unity with the refugee plight by creating a forest of trees. Alice invited participants to stitch a tree as a symbol of identity, made by each person as a testament to their individual and stylistic regional embroidery. 

With help from a team of students, Alice began sending out packs and resources, before stitching them together when contributions arrived. 

“Because the tree is a universal image, and the invitation to stitch allowed for any level of expertise, many groups and individuals adopted the project internationally. Schools used the project as a forum to discuss issues of migration, sustainability and human impact on the environment, alongside skill acquisition and intergenerational learning of stitch,” explains Alice. 

“It was a direct, well-conceived package explained in English and Arabic designed to make it easy to adopt and disseminate. The original idea represented the tree of life symbolic of growth, and of belonging to a specific place. Through each tree, a collective forest is constructed - symbolising the commitment to community. The project set out to honour different kinds of human and non-human uniqueness and diversity that gathered to create a sustainable whole, inspiring positive future directions that can emerge, be nurtured and grow.”  

Forest 1 and 2 are monumental hangings made of over 10,500 individual embroidered trees that express unity with refugees, asylum seekers and other marginalised people. 

Contributions to Forest 1 came from individuals from different generations all over the world. What exactly were the logistics and practicalities of creating a piece of artwork with donations from around the globe? 

“Lots of envelopes arriving in my pigeonhole!” says Alice. “They also had drop-off boxes at the Whitworth and other locations. The response was humbling, and I continue to feel overwhelmed as trees still arrive. I feel great responsibility for these precious hand-made contributions.” 

Forest 2 was made in Karachi, Pakistan. “I was invited to work with Karachi Biennale, a visual arts festival, and the British Council,” says Alice. “They wanted to include local communities in the Fine Art Festival, and they saw this project as a way of bringing expert embroiders to the forefront. I worked with three communities/organisations that primarily supported women. In Pakistan, embroidery is an expert discipline and indigenous practice. It was a reciprocal learning process, we exchanged expertise and they went on to produce the second monumental forest.” 

What was surprising for Alice throughout the work created for Thread Bearing Witness was seeing positive, optimistic imagery such as hearts and flowers, rather than images of horror or despair. 

“One amazing artist did an ambitious piece,” explains Alice. “She was separated from her children for many years and talks about creativity giving her hope. She produced a piece called Beauty from Ashes, which depicted her as destroyed, but emerging through creativity to realise she could both create something beautiful and perceive beauty in herself. 

“A contributor from Afghanistan told us about his reading of peripatetic thinkers, the history of Kandahar, the mosques and the iconic architecture. I was told about the things that matter to those who gave their time and care in taking part.” 

Finding art in a crisis 

Whether it was inspiration from courage shown during the coronavirus pandemic, or people being afforded the time and space to find creativity on their own terms, art became a tool to escape from, or document, life under lockdown restrictions. 

“There is a proliferation of creativity,” says Alice. “I ran an online sewing group for refugees, and I intend that to happen again. It will be interesting to see whether the growth of creativity is sustained. People are sometimes afraid of being creative but done on your own terms it can be a place of self-discovery. 

“We’ve all reprioritised what’s important in our lives. We have reminded ourselves about the importance of human relationships. Stitch is about connectivity. We tell visual stories in stitch by making patterns and creating imagery. It also joins and repairs. In stitching something, you bind two pieces of fabric, two separate parts, two stories, or two people together. It acts as a metaphor for connecting and telling stories. It’s a fantastic medium.” 

Thread Bearing Witness is continuing its journey with an exhibition at the Somerset Rural Life Museum. Beyond that, Alice hopes to do more work with schools and host an exhibition solely of refugee work. 

“The project looks for ways to be sustained as it evolves. We continue to reinvest proceeds into resources and activities in support of refugees and asylum seekers,” says Alice. 

“We continue to consider how we use our artistic practice as a tool for learning about others. Textiles and stitch have created meeting points, reciprocal activities, and a method to present human dignity in sensitive and inclusive ways.” 

Thread Bearing Witness is a testament to the experience of its makers. And a reminder that in order to understand each other, we can dismantle preconceived ideas to reconfigure and join – or stitch – our stories and journeys together. Through textile and pattern, we can think creatively about what it means to be human now but also influence, and help to make, the kind of world that we want to live in. 

Artists accredited

Header image: Thread Bearing Witness project, The Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, UK. Alice Kettle. Three panels - Sea, Ground and Sky - each 3 x 8 metres. Thread on printed canvas. 2018-19. Photograph: David Oates
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• Ground, 2018 (one of three works - Sea, Ground and Sky) - Thread Bearing Witness project

Alice Kettle with contributions from Pipka/Lesvos Solidarity, Ahmad Ali, Somaya Hossaini, Yakob and many other residents at Calais refugee camp working with Suzanne Partridge; Nahomie Bukasa, Sahira Khan and Ai Ling with Linda Leroy at the Helen Bamber Foundation; Nisrin Albyrouty, Khouloud Alkurd, Heba Almnini, Heidi Ambruster, Marwa Ammar, Amal Ayoubi, Stella Charman, Susan Colverson, Jenny Cuffe, Lama Hamami, Miriam Jones, Asmaa Kamar Aldin, Ruth le Mesurier, Vanessa Rolf, Samar Sobeih, Chaymae Yousfi and many children from English Chat Winchester; Farhia Ahmed Ali, Nawad Hersi Duale, Amran Mohamud Ismail with Refugee Action working with artists Jenny Eden and Richard Harris, Julie Firman, Victoria Hartley, Louise Jung, Susan Kamara and Saamiullah Khan.

• Sky, 2018 (one of three works - Sea, Ground and Sky) - Thread Bearing Witness project

Alice Kettle with Amran Abdi Mohamed, Iqra Abdi Mohamed, Idil Abdi Mohamud, Ayantu Abdii, Abdirahman, Abdi Muse, Farhia Ahmed Ali, Bile Ali Aden, Alias Aliye Musa Aliye, Gutu Habib, Monica Hamakami, Isha Hassan Bare, Nawad Hersi Duale, Muno Idiris Mohamed, Mohamed Ahmed Mezan Ismail, Tajura Lamiso Gatiso, Khadar Mohamud Ismail, Sahra Mohamud Ismail, Amran Mohamud Ismail and Fartun Umar Jimale. All with Refugee Action and working with artists Jenny Eden and Richard Harris, Julie Firman, Victoria Hartley, Louise Jung and Saamiullah Khan. Interpreters: Ramadan Ahmed, Abas El Janabi and Mohamed Hirey.

• Stitch A Tree (2017-18)

Contributions from individuals, schools and groups from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jersey, Lesvos refugee camp, New Zealand, Mexico, Namibia, Palestine, Romania, UK, and USA.