Stitching Resistance: Arpilleras with Diego Borgsdorf  

In this workshop, participants will learn to make traditional Chilean “arpilleras,” a form of image-based quilted collage and embroidery invented by Chilean artists in the 1970s as a means of documenting and denouncing the violence of the Augusto Pinochet military dictatorship (1973-1990). By making arpilleras that document contemporary political and social issues, participants will be challenged to not only understand the arpillera as a craft object and style, but also, to see the arpillera as a method to bear witness and heal from political crisis. The workshop will consist of a community arpillera circle plus live instruction on creating both traditional arpillera motifs and experimental techniques that bring photography into the fiber fore.