THREADS OF RESISTANCE

 WORKSHOP_2025

"Thread of Resistance" is a community-based workshop developed and facilitated during a residency at Artlink in Buncrana. The workshop invited participants to explore how fabric can carry memory, identity, and power through a collective, hands-on process.

Members of the local community were encouraged to bring pieces of fabric they no longer used—materials embedded with personal histories, stories, and traces of everyday life. These textiles became the foundation for a collaborative act of transformation.

Drawing inspiration from the Asafo flags of the Fante people in Ghana’s Central Region—vivid, hand-sewn banners historically used by warrior groups to communicate, document, and assert resistance—the workshop reimagined fabric as a medium of expression and resilience. Participants translated their memories, values, and shared experiences into visual forms, shaping images, symbols, and text through processes of cutting, stitching, and assembling.

The resulting collective artwork reflects both individual narratives and the broader social and cultural context of Buncrana. At the same time, the workshop created space for dialogue and reflection—on the meanings embedded in everyday materials, on the preservation of memory, and on the potential of creative practice to foster connection.

Beyond the making process, "Thread of Resistance" also revealed subtle and often intangible connections between Ireland and Ghana, highlighting shared sensibilities and histories that resonate across geographical distance.