| Description: | In 2010 as part of the Following the Thread - Arpilleras and Quilts Exhibition hosted by the Liverpool World museum, a series of well attended community textile workshops on the theme of heritage took place. These workshops, where children and adults shared their life stories through making arpilleras, resulted in the creation of several textile pieces.
The People make the city is a reflective piece by Janet Wilkinson and Susan Beck on the workshop process and subsequent exhibitions. "It was their story [workshop participants] we were telling with our arpillera." comments Susan.
In this piece the iconic buildings of Liverpool, a seafaring port on the river Mersey, are depicted. However, as Susan and Janet both acknowledge: "it is the people who live in it that make the city and are at its heart." In this case, based on the diverse origins of those who attended the workshops, the "heart" of Liverpool, is made up of people who had settled in this port, throughout the ages, from all over the world including Africa, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Bangladesh, China, Egypt, England, Eritrea, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Scotland, Sierra Leone, Somalia and Yemen. Only some were originally from Liverpool
The value of fostering shared understanding between diverse groups is emphasised by Susan: "In any city when the people meet together to talk and share their lives then we move closer to understanding, compassion and peace in the community."
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