About the Time Capsule Quilt
The Covid time capsule quilt is a combined virtual and physical quilt recording the memories and discoveries that parents and families with young children have made during the first stage of the coronavirus pandemic in Vancouver, taking place from March 2020 to the present. Such realizations might include: discovering a desire to grow your own food, the importance of care in our communities, a renewed awareness of social and racial inequity, as well as the joy and functionality of family biking in urban centres. This quilt aims to capture these realizations, and to ensure that they are located within our dreams and designs for the present and future.
Keep * Toss * Transform
The question of what do we want to Keep, Leave, or Transform was posed by Rauna Kuokkanen, during the webinar, “Structuring an Economy for People and Planet in the Time of Climate Crisis and COVID-19” webinar from Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network, May 28, 2020. Video available: https://www.facebook.com/WECAN.Intl/videos/687455462094478/
Background to the "Quilt" concept
The idea of a quilt is inspired firstly by a mother in the Babies for Climate Action community - Jennifer Edwards. She had been trying to put together a quilt for some time.She met with group members for quilting sessions prior to the start of the pandemic, and has amassed a collection of donated fabric pieces from the community. Jennifer was inspired by the long history of quilts as spaces for community conversation and memory building, and wanted to bring these relational storytelling and collective making practices into our community. She has also shared wonderful feedback during the planning stages of the Time Capsule Quilt.
We look to the storytelling quilts of Faith Ringgold (video), and their history as relational, community-located items, engaged with social justice action. Quilts are wonderfully sensory, and might just serve as an antidote to this time of virtual talking heads and computer-mediated interaction. Quilts are tangible symbols of comfort and care that wrap us up and protect us.The quilt holds the memories of the hands that have stitched it together, and as such, it could be an answer to what a post/during-covid aesthetic might look like.
Pilot Phase
At this point in time (as of July 2020), this project is in a “pilot” phase, as such, the process outlined, and any of the details presented here are subject to change, with the exception of my commitment to upholding the principles laid out in my ethical statement (below). For collaborators, this also means that your feedback is especially welcomed at this stage, and that it is possible to deviate or change the participation steps outlined under Join In!
Project Organization
The Covid time capsule quilt is a collaborative, community-led art piece being created by Participatory artist, Laurel Hart, in harmony with members of Vancouver’s Babies for Climate Action Community and local families. This project is taking place as part of an artist residency mentorship program called Futures/FORWARD, in partnership with the Prairie Climate Centre, with the mentorship of community-engaged artist and film maker, Patti Fraser.
Overview of the project / Stages
Summary: The project is (tentatively) called a Quilt Time Capsule of Uncertain Times. This plan focuses on individual relationships, and places the needs of the community at the forefront of its design. I am defining it as a pilot, which allows me to put process before product. Thus, I can proceed slowly, with care, and engage in iterative revisions. The elements/stages include:
Ethical Statement
As a community-based participatory artist, I am committed to collaborative co-creation, based on a feminist ethics of care, with the central goal of fostering healthy community.
Several foundational principals within my artistic practice include:
Aspects of my process which ensure that these principles are adhered to include: frequent and ongoing communication with those involved, having community-contributors review their contributions to suggest changes, and to provide their final approval before publication. An overview of the project such as expectations, and where the final product will be distributed is shared individually and/or in online spaces (as appropriate). Community members are asked to review this overview prior to participating, and to check back for updated information. Contributors will be notified of different options for participation, for example, options for participating that include different levels of identity visibility. They will also be informed that they can ask for their contributions to be removed or modified even after the project is completed. Community members will also be made aware that once content is published online, it is no longer possible to ensure that it is removed completely, (i.e., that it is not copied or shared in unknown ways), due to the nature of the internet.
As an artist/project leader, I also frequently arrange collective open-ended discussions about the process, which allows me to seek out feedback, and identify issues and/or possibilities unbeknownst to me. I also invite key individuals to directly provide me with meaningful feedback. This provides another means of checking in with the community.
Keep * Toss * Transform
The question of what do we want to Keep, Leave, or Transform was posed by Rauna Kuokkanen, during the webinar, “Structuring an Economy for People and Planet in the Time of Climate Crisis and COVID-19” webinar from Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network, May 28, 2020. Video available: https://www.facebook.com/WECAN.Intl/videos/687455462094478/
Background to the "Quilt" concept
The idea of a quilt is inspired firstly by a mother in the Babies for Climate Action community - Jennifer Edwards. She had been trying to put together a quilt for some time.She met with group members for quilting sessions prior to the start of the pandemic, and has amassed a collection of donated fabric pieces from the community. Jennifer was inspired by the long history of quilts as spaces for community conversation and memory building, and wanted to bring these relational storytelling and collective making practices into our community. She has also shared wonderful feedback during the planning stages of the Time Capsule Quilt.
We look to the storytelling quilts of Faith Ringgold (video), and their history as relational, community-located items, engaged with social justice action. Quilts are wonderfully sensory, and might just serve as an antidote to this time of virtual talking heads and computer-mediated interaction. Quilts are tangible symbols of comfort and care that wrap us up and protect us.The quilt holds the memories of the hands that have stitched it together, and as such, it could be an answer to what a post/during-covid aesthetic might look like.
Pilot Phase
At this point in time (as of July 2020), this project is in a “pilot” phase, as such, the process outlined, and any of the details presented here are subject to change, with the exception of my commitment to upholding the principles laid out in my ethical statement (below). For collaborators, this also means that your feedback is especially welcomed at this stage, and that it is possible to deviate or change the participation steps outlined under Join In!
Project Organization
The Covid time capsule quilt is a collaborative, community-led art piece being created by Participatory artist, Laurel Hart, in harmony with members of Vancouver’s Babies for Climate Action Community and local families. This project is taking place as part of an artist residency mentorship program called Futures/FORWARD, in partnership with the Prairie Climate Centre, with the mentorship of community-engaged artist and film maker, Patti Fraser.
Overview of the project / Stages
Summary: The project is (tentatively) called a Quilt Time Capsule of Uncertain Times. This plan focuses on individual relationships, and places the needs of the community at the forefront of its design. I am defining it as a pilot, which allows me to put process before product. Thus, I can proceed slowly, with care, and engage in iterative revisions. The elements/stages include:
- One-on-one conversations with parents from Babies for Climate Action in Vancouver. Conversations will be recorded with notes, photographs, or audio, and reviewed for stories and 'discoveries' that have emerged during covid. (Possible prompt: What we want to Keep, Leave, or Transform.)
- A physical quilt square will be developed based on these conversations. (The selected content for the square and the digital component to follow will always be discussed and agreed upon before publication.)
- Quilt squares will be digitized as they are produced and made into an image-mapped digital quilt with a hand-made aesthetic. (The digital quilt can be assembled before the physical product!) Clicking on a square will include a multimedia story from the parent who made/inspired the square about its meaning.
- The physical quilt can begin small, and continue to grow. This travelling quilt can make the lived experiences of families tangible. It can be displayed in politicians' offices (such as that of our local MLA and Attorney General, David Eby), the local library, the Family Place (or neighbourhood houses), and other community spaces.
Ethical Statement
As a community-based participatory artist, I am committed to collaborative co-creation, based on a feminist ethics of care, with the central goal of fostering healthy community.
Several foundational principals within my artistic practice include:
- Sharing control – collaborative project development
- Prioritizing community wellness and protection
- Accurate representation both of individuals and of communities
- Final product approval by community members
- Sharing full details of the project throughout its developmental stages
Aspects of my process which ensure that these principles are adhered to include: frequent and ongoing communication with those involved, having community-contributors review their contributions to suggest changes, and to provide their final approval before publication. An overview of the project such as expectations, and where the final product will be distributed is shared individually and/or in online spaces (as appropriate). Community members are asked to review this overview prior to participating, and to check back for updated information. Contributors will be notified of different options for participation, for example, options for participating that include different levels of identity visibility. They will also be informed that they can ask for their contributions to be removed or modified even after the project is completed. Community members will also be made aware that once content is published online, it is no longer possible to ensure that it is removed completely, (i.e., that it is not copied or shared in unknown ways), due to the nature of the internet.
As an artist/project leader, I also frequently arrange collective open-ended discussions about the process, which allows me to seek out feedback, and identify issues and/or possibilities unbeknownst to me. I also invite key individuals to directly provide me with meaningful feedback. This provides another means of checking in with the community.