Textile Details

Derecho a vivir con dignidad / The Right to Live with Dignity (Photo: Martin Melaugh)

This scene depicts how a poor community tries to improve their quality of living despite financial hardship. In the foreground we see inside one home with a leaky roof, which the family living there manage with both short- and long-term solutions - protecting the inside of the house by catching the water that comes in in basins, and by patching up the holes on the roof respectively. The red text embroidered in the centre of the home reads ‘Everyone has the right to live with dignity’.

The colourful houses in the background each present other ways people maintain their dignity: sweeping outside to keep the street clean, cleaning the exterior of their homes, and tapping the electrical grid to keep access to basic necessities such as light, even when power was shut off when families were unable to keep up with bills. The women of this neighbourhood show determination to make their community and homes clean, pleasant and liveable despite their situations. Taking pride in where they lived allowed poor people to exert some control over their lives and surroundings, maintaining a sense of dignity to help them keep going. (HM0425)

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