Happy International Women's Day!
As a feminist, I have a soft spot for fiber arts. I know that fiber art is probably the most frustrating art medium to teach to elementary kids. Most iterations of fiber art require fine motor skills and the ability to follow specific directions, which our kids usually lack. But, because women and people from non-western cultures weren't part of the art canon for hundreds of years, skipping over fiber art also skips over some of the most important contributions of women and non-schooled artists to the arts and our culture.
Arpilleras are 3-dimensional quilts, created by women in South America. The most famous use of them was by apilleristas in Chile during the reign of Augusto Pinochet. Many families were separated while human rights violations saturated Chile. Female artisans used the colorful quilts to bring attention to the struggles in the country. They sold these works of arts and distributed them through the Catholic Church and human rights organizations. Many of them arpilleras had notes stuffed into hidden back pockets to try to communicate to the outside world.
Here is an beautiful example of an arpillera:
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| http://www.thefolkartgallery.com/graphics/mountain_village_harvest_scene_arpillera_lg.jpg |
So, since arpilleras are a perfect example of art being used to better the world, women's contributions to art, and social justice, I like to use them in my curriculum.
This year, I was asked by the town's public librarian to create homages to Indiana to celebrate Indiana's bicentennial. So, my fourth graders are making miniature arpillera's depicting a famous Hoosier. This project also works well with a theme of struggle, obviously. I have created them with a class of adults with disabilities where they were able to illustrate obstacles in society.
We displayed the finish pieces in coffee can lids. We took plastic Folgers containers, cut out the middle of the lids and hot-glued our arpilleras to the back. Excess burlap was cut away.
Here are some cute one's from this year. You can see Indiana claims Abraham Lincoln as a Hoosier when we all know he is from Kentucky : ).
Arpilleras are also a great collaborative project. In the below picture, kids created the background pieces with tye-dye. The pieces were machine quilted onto felt. We used clamp shibori dying to create the fabric for the buildings. The students then hand-quilted, added their people and details on top. Kids were given pom-poms, yarn and pipe clears to made embellishments.
We displayed the finish pieces in coffee can lids. We took plastic Folgers containers, cut out the middle of the lids and hot-glued our arpilleras to the back. Excess burlap was cut away.
Here are some cute one's from this year. You can see Indiana claims Abraham Lincoln as a Hoosier when we all know he is from Kentucky : ).
Here is a video of how I teach my students to make the people:
Arpilleras are also a great collaborative project. In the below picture, kids created the background pieces with tye-dye. The pieces were machine quilted onto felt. We used clamp shibori dying to create the fabric for the buildings. The students then hand-quilted, added their people and details on top. Kids were given pom-poms, yarn and pipe clears to made embellishments.
