For over a decade, students in Spanish at QUB have had the opportunity to create textiles, arpilleras, as a means of interpreting and re-narrating Costa Rican short stories engaging with ecological and social issues. The vibrant, colourful textiles on display are a small sample of their creative endeavours.

Research shows that, in addition to language learning, creative assessments help students become flexible thinkers & problem-solvers. Sewing, in particular, can also encourage valuable mental health benefits. Slowing down, thinking through the story, working with the materials to create a new language of images can all temper the speed and pressure of academic studies.

In collaboration with the Conflict Textiles collection - also on exhibition in the McClay library - these textile narratives are informed by the original arpilleras created in Chile. The global nature of story cloth narratives is also marked by the inclusion of textiles made by the women of the sewing cooperative in Santa María de Fe, Paraguay.

Open to the public:

• Monday - Friday: 8-11am, 5-8pm
• Saturday - 10am-3pm
• Sunday - 1pm-3pm

Click here to read more,

Spanish

Media

Dr Fiona Clark