Stitch Assembly – the workshop
Dr Alison Jeffers (Senior Lecturer in Drama) and Dr Laura Pottinger (Research Fellow in Geography) ran Stitch Assembly for Performance Studies International’s (PSi) annual conference (July 2024) which was on the theme of Assembly
The conference invited delegates to think about ‘how to assemble, how to come together, to build, to imagine, to co-create in hostile conditions, and, conversely, what we need to disassemble, to take apart, to dismantle, to decenter, to unlearn.’
Stitch Assembly was an invitation to conference participants to spend some time away from other conference activities, creating a stitched piece in quiet contemplation, or in dialogue with other conference-goers. Participants were invited to create a stitched response on the theme of ‘Assemble’, their experiences of engaging with the various threads of the conference, and their hopes on the theme of assembling.
As well as the workshop at the conference, Laura and Alison sent stitching packs to delegates who were attending remotely so that they could stitch along at the hybrid event. They received three fabric squares and a selection of materials for stitching and embellishment. Everyone could add their own materials if they wished.
Stitch Assemble - the virtual quilt
Please select 'THE QUILT' in the top right corner of the page to access the virtual quilt. The images here are photographs of the work made at the workshop and the stitching that was carried out remotely. Away from the conference some friends and family were intrigued to think about the theme of assembly and to stitch a square based on their ideas. These images are included here too.
When you click on an image some text will appear. The connection between images and text is deliberately arbitrary. Some small changes have been made to the text to preserve participants’ anonymity. Alison and Laura would like to thank all the stitchers who contributed to this project. We found all the stitched squares beautiful and your comments and discussions profound.
Thank you to PSi and to staff at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama; the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures and the School of Environment Education and Development at the University of Manchester, UK.
