Article 30

Fraser Road

website@moadoph.gov.au — Mon, 15 Oct 2018 03:30:46 +0000

Fraser Road website@moadop… Mon, 10/15/2018 - 14:30

Lee Stach, who creates by the name Fraser Road, is a fisheries biologist by training with a passion for traditional needlework and fibre arts. Raised in northern Ontario, Canada, at a very young age Lee developed a great interest in, and respect for, the natural environment. Lee’s interest in needlework started at a very young age, when she was taught cross-stitch by her maternal grandmother. Each embroidery piece Lee creates is heavily influenced not only by her interest and training in biology and the natural world, but also the traditional needlework techniques taught to her by her grandmother.

Fraser Road

English

Canada

Canadian

In Canada, many of us are lucky to enjoy freedoms that many other areas of the world do not. However, Canada is not perfect. There is a considerable gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples when it comes to human rights. One example is Canada’s residential school system.

My piece pays tribute to Chanie Wenjack. He was only nine when he was placed in a school hundreds of kilometres from his home. For over 100 years, some 150,000 Indigenous children were put into these government-funded, Church-administered boarding schools to be assimilated into mainstream society. Many students lost their native traditions and reported emotional, physical and sexual abuse.

When Chanie was 12, he ran away. It was October in northern Ontario, with snow squalls and freezing rain. Chanie had nothing but a cotton windbreaker and a small jar of matches. A week later, his body was found, next to a railway track he thought would take him home.

UDHR Article

Article 30

Quilt

Red quilt

Anna Farago

website@moadoph.gov.au — Mon, 15 Oct 2018 05:18:23 +0000

Anna Farago website@moadop… Mon, 10/15/2018 - 16:18

Anna Farago is a Melbourne-based visual artist and teacher. Her most recent solo exhibition was Stitching Place at Montsalvat in 2016. Participation in group shows in 2017 include Materiality at Town Hall Gallery, Hawthorn, and No Woman is an Island at Blindside, Melbourne. In 2015/16 Anna was artist-in-residence at Darebin Parklands. In 2015 she collaborated with members of Maroondah Handicrafts for A Crafted History: people and place at ArtSpace at Realm, Maroondah City Council. She has been exhibiting since 2003 and has work in private and public collections nationally and internationally.

Anna Farago

English

Australia

Born in England to Australian and Hungarian parents; father was a refugee

I repurposed scraps from a quilt I made. It was important to me that the materials connected to my work as a maker and artist. It was also important to honour the last Article, hence the peace sign full stop. Article 30 reads a little like a disclaimer, suggesting that if anything has been forgotten, this Article attempts to cover it. The peace sign represents an ideal—a FULL STOP to breaches of the Declaration. This may seem simplistic and unattainable, but I believe hope and actions drive change; that working collectively and doing small things can lead to big things.

The peace sign was designed by Gerald Holtom for the British Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. It evolved to represent the counterculture movements of the 1960s and 1970s. During this time, feminist art developed too. The peace sign references these social and artistic movements for change. I am very proud to be part of them.

UDHR Article

Article 30

Quilt

Green quilt

Suzette Taylor

website@moadoph.gov.au — Mon, 15 Oct 2018 05:42:27 +0000

Suzette Taylor website@moadop… Mon, 10/15/2018 - 16:42

Suzette Taylor is an artist, teacher, mother and wife currently living in Phoenix, Arizona. She has a Bachelor’s degree from Arizona State University in fibre/textile art, and is working on getting certification to become a high school art teacher. Her work focuses on issues that are political, controversial, environmental, or activist problems that affect the world we live in, and she keeps a neutral stance and lets the viewer interpret the work. She currently is trying to become 100% sustainable within all work made, and uses recycled materials whenever possible.

Suzette Taylor

English

United States of America

American

Article 30 spoke to me as a cry for the immigrants in Arizona and the oppression they are facing by living here in Phoenix and surrounding border cities. They are humans, not just illegals, and they deserve better treatment than what they are getting from government officials. I believe every person only wants to feel human and respected at the end of the day. No person is better than the next, and we often fail to remember that when we see others who are different from ourselves.

UDHR Article

Article 30

Quilt

Blue quilt

KERA

website@moadoph.gov.au — Mon, 15 Oct 2018 05:56:06 +0000

KERA website@moadop… Mon, 10/15/2018 - 16:56

KERA is an illustrator and crafter from Finland, currently based in Estonia. Art and crafts have been a massive and daily part of her life from very early on. She has studied different mediums of art in several art schools, both in Finland and Estonia.

KERA focuses mainly on creating whimsical illustrations using different painting techniques as well as markers. Having education in textile design, her focus at the moment is crocheting, embroidery but also silk printing, which she uses to create different things from textile sculptures but also more everyday products. She finds inspiration for her creative work mainly from Scandinavian design and classical art, especially Finnish art and design, but also takes influence from traditional Baltic folk crafts, children’s illustrated books, animations and nature.

Currently KERA is on parental leave and uses her time to expand her experiences and knowledge in different mediums. Her goals at the moment are to create textile sculptures, open her own shop and work on a personal exhibition. This craftivism project was her first but after contributing in this project, her approach to her own work is now more political and focused on raising awareness on current social issues.

KERA

Estonian

Estonia

Finnish

A big part of Estonian culture and identity is expressed in our national costume. It is filled with gorgeous symbolic embroidery with which our history is told. The symbols are intended to give strength and power to women in our country.

I was inspired by our President’s 2017 Independence Day speech. It highlighted the massive cultural problem of domestic violence, the lack of acceptance of asylum seekers and refugees, and the importance of respecting human rights. This speech was in the headlines for months. I found the controversy sad. The negative attitude towards women, refugees and other minorities—from people who cherish their national symbols and what they represent. People who have fought for their independence; who have themselves been in the minority during Estonia’s history; or who themselves fled during wartime to seek asylum. It’s surprising how much hate can fit into a country with only 1.3 million people.

I used traditional colours and symbols on a piece of black fabric from my grandmother, who had kept it from Soviet times. It is now more than 40 years old. The flowers symbolise strength, peace, love and fertility. Cornflowers are one of the official symbols of Estonia.

UDHR Article

Article 30

Quilt

Yellow quilt