Texto de sala de Handmade Politics
Handmade Politics is softly subversive
Kate Just / Margaret Mayhew / Laura Lilja / Mó Iturríbarria / Heidi Lunabba & Ilar Gunilla Persson
/ Susana Nevado / curator: Katve-Kaisa Kontturi
Galleria Titanik, 7.8.–30.8. 2015
Press conference: Thursday, 6 August 1pm
Press conference: Thursday, 6 August 1pm
Opening: Thursday, 6 August 6-8pm
Performance night and discussion: Thursday, 13 August 6-7pm
Welcome!
Handmade Politics weaves a network of political art from one end of the world to the other. The
artworks displayed at the exhibition come from Australia, Mexico, Finland, Sweden and Spain.
The exhibition relates to ‘soft’ activism conducted by means of craftmaking (craftivism). Artists work
with political issues by knitting, crocheting, embroidering, doing leather work and hanging laundry.
They address Australia’s immigration politics condemned by the UN, Mexican drug cartels, freedom
of speech (Pussy Riot) and sexual equality.
--- The political in these works is tactile; it tangles indispensably with handmaking. Multiple colours
and textures invite participation, says the curator Katve-Kaisa Kontturi
Australian textile artist Margaret Mayhew has crocheted colourful demonstration banners that call
for peace in Tamili, Arab and Persian languages.
--- Asylum seekers asked me to pray for them, and I executed my prayer as artworks, explains
Mayhew who has volunteered at detention centres in Melbourne.
Kate Just has knitted the Pussy Riot Group based on images on the internet. The piece belongs to
the #Feministfan series, and it addresses freedom of speech.
On Mó Iturríbarria’s political hankerchiefs (pañuelos) golden bullets replace traditional flower
ornaments. These works were censored from another exhibition because they did not please the
Mexican Embassy in Finland.
Laura Lilja’s big flag promotes diversity by way of pvc, leather and rubber. Heidi Lunabba & Ilar
Gunilla Persson’s “Washing line in the colours of the Rainbow” project has toured Nordic Pride
festivals, and encourages to express tolerance by hanging one’s laundry in the colours of the
rainbow (#tvattlina). Susana Nevado’s embroidered approns are an expression of the phrase
‘personal is political’ as they present memories of mother in Spanish, Finnish and German.
Visual artist Aleksi Liimatainen created a Handmade Politics graffiti on the gallery window.
The exhibition program includes the performance Fitting by Vappu Jalonen followed by a discussion. The event will take place on Thursday the 13th of August.
The exhibition program includes the performance Fitting by Vappu Jalonen followed by a discussion. The event will take place on Thursday the 13th of August.
The exhibition is part of the research project “Affective Fabrics of Contemporary Art: Stitching
Global Relations” conducted by Dr. Katve-Kaisa Kontturi at the Victorian College of the Arts, the
University of Melbourne. The project is part of the European New Materialist Network that has
members from over 20 countries. Kontturi co-chairs the Creative Arts working group of the network
as a representative of the University of Turku.
Curator Katve-Kaisa Kontturi,
Gallery Titanik, Itäinen Rantakatu 4, Turku, tel. 045 8998772 / info@titanik.fi The exhibition is part of the Hand Made series at Gallery Titanik.
Comentarios