Cotton may be the fabric of our lives, but for women across the world it is, and has been, an inexpensive means of therapy.
When political and social issues tear a country apart and war leaves lives in ruins, traditionally men are the first to stand proud and fight back, leaving the women in their lives to pick up the pieces. And they do. They pick them up, sew, glue, and weave them together in hopes of healing the pain, telling their story, or merely making enough money to survive.
These women are not just victims of war. They are artists, and Deborah Boyer intends to illustrate this with her exhibit, "Stitches of War," at ASU's Anthropology Museum. Boyer has collected more than 50 textile pieces from contemporary and ethnographic artists to provide evidence of the impact of war on women's lives. This impact is shown by changes in women's traditional crafts such as knitting, weaving and beading. After a year of research, planning and hardwork, the exhibit opens tonight with a reception, and will run through May.
"Women send their sons, their husbands and their brothers off to war and they're at home keeping the homefront," says Boyer, an ASU art history graduate student. "They would work out their feelings in an art form they had close by, and for most women it was textiles."
'Stitches of War' at ASU's Anthropology Museum. Opening reception tonight, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., admission is free. Call 965-6213 for more information.
Boyer, a retired Navy commander of 20 years, says the idea of women involved in war in any way is something she holds close to her heart. The idea started with a paper she wrote while getting her master's in art history at ASU, and her interest grew after she presented the paper at conferences. When asked to take the concept and create a museum exhibit, Boyer jumped at the chance, though she knew nothing about putting an exhibit together.
Gwyneira Issac, director of the Anthropology Museum , was more than happy to put in her two cents. She says "Stitches of War" is a unique exhibit for the museum because it offers a cross-cultural perspective on war, and although it was designed by a group of women, it has something to offer everyone - "any gender, any age, any race."
"[The exhibit] is a different perspective on war," Isaac says. "The idea was to not just look at specific experiences, but to look at how those experiences are manifested in objects. People can interpret them how they want. It's not like a text."
The four different subsets of the exhibit - documentation, support, protest and commemoration - show the emotional rollercoaster, from positive to negative, that women have endured in times of war.
Textile art was a way for women to show patriotism and to get their stories told to the world, says Boyer about what is shown in the documentation section of the exhibit. Afghan war rugs document the recent liberation of Afghanistan, while colorful Arpillera wall hangings from Peru depict life before and after war. Hmong story cloths from Laos lead viewers through the struggle of people who were persecuted for supporting Americans during the Vietnam War, and post Sept. 11, 2001 Navajo rugs carry the American flag proudly.
Pieces in the commemorative section were a way for women to cope with the pain of losing a loved one. Intricate weavings represent East Timor's fight for independence, and "Patriotic Strength from a Tattered Flag," a powerful quilt made by an ASU graduate, pays tribute to the heroes of 9-11. Several dolls perched on a podium seem to offer a glimpse of happiness, but upon a closer look that is definitely not the case. Among the brightly colored civilian dolls, the Zapatista dolls made in Chiapas, Mexico, wear black clothing and masks and carry rifles.
In the protest and support sections of the exhibit, the art speaks for itself, clearly stating the artist's opinion on war. During WWI and WWII women showed their support for the war by knitting sweaters and socks for the soldiers. Many of the American-made pieces were created in protest to war, including a beaded picture of a face screaming in angst.
"[The exhibit] is a new way of looking at textiles," Boyer says. "This shows there are valid ways to show your opinion about war one way or another. We're trying to be objective. We're not trying to say we support the war or we don't support the war."
Reach the reporter at jaime.schneider@asu.edu.
