Article 3

Dahlia Rodriguez

website@moadoph.gov.au — Thu, 11 Oct 2018 23:52:47 +0000

Dahlia Rodriguez website@moadop… Fri, 10/12/2018 - 10:52

Dahlia Rodriguez studied history of art and management of cultural heritage in Valencia and development cooperation at Hegoa Institute, Spain. From 2004 to 2010, she worked as project manager in the fields of cultural development cooperation in organisations based in Argentina, France, Lebanon and Morocco.

Since 2009, she has worked on intercultural dialogue and women’s empowerment for international organisations such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the North–South Centre of the Council of Europe and the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC). In this framework, she organised international events such as forums, summer schools, conferences and workshops.

In 2015, Dahlia joined Dialogue Café Association to coordinate international debates on social innovation, creative makers, human rights and intercultural dialogue. At the same time she started to collaborate with the Global Platform for Syrian Students, where she currently works.

Her interest in traditional artisanship and cultural heritage brought new projects to her life: the Craftivism Lab, a digital lab to promote and share information about craftivists promoting social change; her own brand of textile creation; and Mus-Art, a research project aimed at promoting women artisans and enhancing artisan know-how.

Dahlia Rodriguez

Spanish

Portugal

Spanish

Dahlia strongly believes in arts and culture as vectors of social change. The promotion of the UDHR was a very special opportunity because the project involved embroidery and quilting: creative languages without borders used for centuries worldwide, especially by women, to express their deepest thoughts and feelings.

Dahlia used her profile as a basis for the embroidery in her block. The rainbow symbolises threats the LGBTIQ+ collective is still facing everywhere in this world. However, the rose colour of Dahlia’s voice and body is a reference to feminism, and a bridge to other craftivism initiatives such as the Pussy Hat. Dahlia used long stitches to strengthen her message. Showing her principles and commitment to sustainability, she reused old French linen and cotton threads.

Dahlia believes that working with more than 130 persons from over the world was the most important value of this initiative. ‘It’s an example of how powerful we are,’ she says, ‘because together we can make it happen.’

UDHR Article

Article 3

Quilt

Red quilt

Alexander Hernandez

website@moadoph.gov.au — Mon, 15 Oct 2018 03:58:41 +0000

Alexander Hernandez website@moadop… Mon, 10/15/2018 - 14:58

Alexander Hernandez is a first generation Mexican–American artist. He received his Bachelor of Fine Art (2007) in painting and drawing from Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design in Denver, Colorado, and his Masters of Fine Art (2012) at California College of the Arts in San Francisco in studio art. His current work is mixed media with an emphasis on textiles.

Alexander Hernandez

Spanish, English

United States of America

Mexican

My preferred art materials at the moment are scrap fabrics, remnants of unfinished projects, personal belongings, found objects and traditional textiles. I sew, paint, embroider, layer and patch these mediums together using traditional needlework and DIY crafting techniques.

Recently I have been deconstructing Latino masculine tropes and iconography. I dissect these images into smaller pieces, then sew them back together creating larger, playful artworks. In these pieces I embrace ripped holes, unravelling threads, raw edges and slashes revealing layers of multiple identities: my Mexican heritage; Queer affinity; Rocky Mountain upbringing; gender role expectations; punk and crafty tendencies. Like patchwork, all these different identities come together creating something that is unique, fabulous and complicated.

UDHR Article

Article 3

Quilt

Green quilt

Briony Martin

website@moadoph.gov.au — Mon, 15 Oct 2018 05:22:15 +0000

Briony Martin website@moadop… Mon, 10/15/2018 - 16:22

Briony Martin is originally from South Wales but now lives in Leeds, England. She is a support worker for a small charity that provides work training and wellbeing skills for adults with learning disabilities. She was originally a self-employed textile artist, but her passion for working with adults with learning disabilities came after she took part in a campaign called #justiceforLB, seeking justice for the preventable death of Connor Sparrowhawk, known as ‘Laughing Boy’, who had autism and epilepsy. She contributed a textile piece to the campaign, which led to her interest in craftivism.

Although Briony no longer practises art full-time, she still tries to find time for small projects and has more recently been able to sell work to help raise funds for The Trussell Trust food banks and homeless charities, Simon on the Streets and Shelter. She is interested in social justice, disability and mental health issues and loves Sleaford Mods.

Briony Martin

English

England, United Kingdom

British

Article 3 highlights what is missing from the lives of people with learning disabilities, who are dying prematurely in the United Kingdom. I became aware of these deaths after taking part in the #justiceforLB campaign. Connor Sparrowhawk (Laughing Boy) was 18 when he drowned in a bath in a National Health Service treatment unit. The national Learning Disabilities Mortality Review confirmed that in the United Kingdom, people with learning disabilities die on average 15–20 years sooner than the general population.

These issues are personal to me, as my youngest daughter has autism. I also support adults with learning disabilities as a charity worker. Poor standards of care, social isolation and poor mental health are all too common. With cuts to disability benefits and services, the problems have gotten worse.

My block has a strong symbolic image accessible for all people to interpret. I hope it encourages people to read Connor’s story and challenges their perceptions about people with learning disabilities.

UDHR Article

Article 3

Quilt

Blue quilt

BirdTribe Wearable Art

website@moadoph.gov.au — Mon, 15 Oct 2018 05:44:51 +0000

BirdTribe Wearable Art website@moadop… Mon, 10/15/2018 - 16:44

Nina Blackcockatoo is a textile artist, environmentalist, activist, ethnobotanist, horticulturalist and lover of the natural world. She is currently creating natural-fibre clothing and wearable art dyed with plant dyes. Her artwork is about our connection to the environment, and encourages this reconnection within ourselves to see ourselves as part of nature.

BirdTribe Wearable Art

English

Australia

Italian, Irish

Article 3 is a right many people are not experiencing here in Australia, in the prison camps in Papua New Guinea, and in many places all over the world. I hope the Australian government releases the refugees from their ‘offshore processing facilities’ very soon and they are shown compassion and helped to start a new life in Australia.

I also hope the government will value, acknowledge and respect the rights of our Indigenous people and enter into a Treaty, as they have requested, to move our country forward into a fairer place.

I dyed the fabric using Australian native plants to acknowledge the Aboriginal people of Australia. I stitched the words using hand-spun silk thread, hand-dyed with dyes such as indigo and cochineal, commonly used by Indigenous peoples in other places in the world. We need to show respect, compassion and empathy to our fellow sisters and brothers to make the world a better place for all.

UDHR Article

Article 3

Quilt

Yellow quilt