Thursday, 28 March 2024

Textile Details

'Reflections on violence', by Linda Adams. (Photo: Martin Melaugh)
'Reflections on violence', by Linda Adams. (Photo: Martin Melaugh)

 

Title of Textile:Reflections on violence
Maker: Linda Adams
Country of Origin: England
Year Produced: 2009
Size (cm): 47cm (w) x 32cm (l)
Materials: Recycled furnishing fabrics and clothing
Type of Textile: Arpillera
Description:

Made in 2009, this arpillera depicts the “Free Tibet” protest in London in 2008 when the Olympic torch was carried through the city on its way to Beijing. The demonstrators, displaying their placards against Chinese oppression in Tibet and waving Tibetan flags, were kept behind barriers, closely guarded by Chinese security personnel and British police.

Linda, who took part in the protest with her daughter, was amazed at the repression of peaceful protesters trying to raise awareness of and denounce repression elsewhere. She describes the response of those guarding the flame: “…anything in the way was violently pushed to one side… The violence was sickening….”

Seeing this event portrayed as an insignificant news item prompted Linda to create this arpillera: “I was eager to make the arpillera to add my voice to the protests, to say ‘This is what I saw’.”

Revisiting this piece 10 years later, in April 2019, prompted Linda to reflect deeply on this protest and the overall context. Mirroring the style of the early Chilean arpilleristas, she has recorded her thoughts in a written message, concealed in a small pocket on the reverse side of the arpillera.

Owner: Conflict Textiles collection
Location: c/o Jeanie Parris, Belfast Campus Library, Ulster University
Original / Replica: Original
Photographer: Martin Melaugh
Provenance: Linda Adams



Textile exhibited at: Arpilleras that Cry Out, 22/06/2009 - 10/07/2009
Finding Our Voices -The Power of Arpilleras, 26/09/2009 - 30/10/2009
The Human Cost of War, 8/11/2009 - 21/11/2009
Stitching Resistance, 12/10/2010 - 16/01/2011
The Human Cost of War - An Exhibition of Quilts and Arpilleras, 4/11/2010 - 15/01/2011
The poetry of arpilleras, 31/05/2011 - 3/06/2011
Transforming threads of resistance, 27/02/2012 - 9/03/2012
Arpilleras in contested spaces, 3/09/2013 - 6/09/2013
RETAZOS TESTIMONIALES: arpilleras de Chile y otras latitudes, 28/09/2013 - 10/11/2013
SMALL Actions BIG Movements, 1/07/2014 - 11/07/2014
Textile Accounts of Conflicts, 17/11/2014 - 18/11/2014
Textile Accounts of Conflicts, 6/02/2015 - 7/03/2015
Arpilleras: Verhalen over leven / Arpilleras: stories of life and survival, 23/09/2015 - 20/11/2015
ARPILLERAS: verhalen over leven / ARPILLERAS: stories of life and survival, 16/01/2016 - 24/02/2016
Enduring Life: Arpillera Voices, 11/05/2016 - 15/07/2016
Embracing Human Rights, 5/11/2019 - 18/12/2019
Embracing Human Rights: Conflict Textiles’ Journey, 9/01/2020 - 31/07/2020
Conflict Textiles / Ulster University, Belfast - The search for the disappeared, 25/10/2023 - 30/08/2024
Responding to Disappearance in Chile, Northern Ireland and Turkey, 25/10/2023 - 25/10/2023



Textile Detail Image(s)