Lecture and workshop on craftivism by Sofia Tocar

Lluis Borrassa, Altarpiece of the Virgin and Saint George, 1400

Saturday, 11 March 2017, 18:00
Sunday, 12 March 2017, 15:00

Thread and needle are integral elements of civilization development, still relevant today. In the same time, textile has traditionally been considered a female work. In her book The Subversive Stitch: Embroidery and the Making of the Feminine, art historian and psychotherapist Rozsika Parker argues, that exploring the history of embroidery means exploring the history of a woman.

Saturday lecture Thread and Needle by Sofia Tocar will answer the question, why textile and female creativity are so closely related, as well as why we differentiate between “high” and “low” art. The lecturer will follow the history of textile production as art and social phenomenon in its close relation to social status of women.

Craftivism (craft+activism=craftivism) counters our traditional views on the role of male and female handicraft by pointing out that the personal can be social and embroidery can be a form of a protest, which inspires and supports those who participate. In craftivism, collectivity and solidarity are important as part of a “small protests” creation process, taking place with the help of needles, threads, and knitting needles.

Sunday workshop by Sofia Tocar will consist of an introductory theoretical part about the history and role of craftivism in social protest, as well as of practical part, too.

Sofia Tocar is a researcher, curator of a residence program for artists from Eastern Europe and Central Asia in Prague. She was born in Moldova in 1990 and has lived in Prague since 2010, where she studies at Master’s Program in art history at Charles University. She explores the use of textile in contemporary art and activism, mainly in feminist movements.

The lecture and workshop will take place within the framework of the exhibition TEXTUS. Embroidery, Textile, Feminism.

Admission is free

Organizer: Центр візуальної культури

Supported by: ERSTE Stiftung and Charles Stewart Mott Foundation