#EdAH A trip through the history of fabrics - a workshop by Oksana Bryukhovetska
On November 8–9, a two-day workshop by Oksana Bryukhovetska took place at the Potocki Palace in Ivano-Frankivsk. The event explored how textile can serve not only as a material but also as a medium for telling stories of experience, pain, memory, and hope.
Oksana guided participants on a journey through the stories woven into fabrics and embroidery:
- from family-embroidered carpets of the Cherkasy region, preserving the warmth of generations, to Chilean arpilleras - textile collages created by women in Santiago as testimonies of political persecution and acts of protest against dictatorship;
- from African American quilts, where stories of struggle for dignity and freedom are encoded, to embroideries made by Ukrainian women in the GULAG, where every stitch became an act of resistance and self-preservation.
These examples from different parts of the world resonated together - as stories of resilience, beauty, feminine strength, and the pursuit of truth expressed through fabric.
Oksana also reflected on the influence of family traditions of women’s handcrafts on artistic practice, showing how they intersect with feminist approaches and carry a therapeutic power - to soothe, restore, and reconnect with oneself.
In the practical part of the workshop, participants created their own textile collages from fabric pieces, decorated their clothing, exchanged personal stories, and discovered how art made by hand can become a deeply personal form of expression.
This publication has been produced with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of the Executive Committee of the Ivano-Frankivsk City Council and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.
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