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From the Congo to Paris

BY ANNIE WATERMAN Emmanuel Kasongo’s art jewelry Meeting Emmanuel Kasongo this past August was a highlight as he is humble, sweet and talented beyond words. The first time I met him, I couldn’t help but stare at his beautiful beaded necklaces that he…

Beyond sustenance

SUBMITTED BY ZEMULA BARR Food brings us together. Beyond providing sustenance, it is a vehicle through which we socialize, celebrate, and show love and affection. Certain foods tie us to home and the culture or religion of our upbringing. Currently, what…

Stitching History

BY HENRY JOHN DREWAL COURTESY OF HENRY JOHN DREWAL Siddi Patchwork Quilts We may be familiar with the history and artistry of African peoples and their descendants in the Americas, but we know little about Africans in other parts of the…

A Storyteller’s Story

BY ELAINE LIPSON Jude Hill’s Spirit Cloth stitches global techniques into personal narratives In the best tradition of folk artists, Jude Hill is a storyteller. Her textile work blends piecing, appliqué, kantha stitching, and embroidery into strong, organic whole cloths rich…

Hope Arrived Yesterday

BY WENDY GOLDEN-LEVITT The miracle of textile therapy Hope arrived yesterday. It was steeped in black walnuts, tea and Mexican sweet grass. Hope that lightly released a small bell, and the hiding of great symbols between kantha stitches–symbols that can be…

The Maldhari of Gujarat

BY MICHAEL BENANAV Traveling with a displaced people About a year ago I traveled to remote regions of India’s Gujarat state to visit with Maldhari tribespeople, semi-nomadic herders who spend eight months of the year criss-crossing sparse pasturelands with their sheep,…

Textile Therapy

BY WENDY GOLDEN-LEVITT Unraveling children’s pain with the touch of textiles Canadian resident Wendy Golden-Levitt found HAND/EYE in print and online this fall.  She wrote a beautiful email complimenting us on our good work, and described very briefly her work as…

Able Embroiderers

BY KEITH RECKER Does a work of art reveal the soul of its creator? If so, the needlework of Kagoshima City’s Nui Project, an embroidery workshop for the mentally disabled, uncloaks souls whose workings are little understood. Nui Project’s dazzling textiles…

Accidental Saint

BY BIANCA DIBIASE Surayia Rahman creates opportunities for women with the finest nakshi kantha “I didn’t plan to do it for the women. They just started coming.” And come they did, from miles away, by boat, train and bus. When the…