HOPE IN THE MAHALLEH

I'm thinking this part of the story will take a couple of posts! Lot's to tell. Mahalleh is 'neighborhood' in this part of the world. First picture is the mahalleh we lived in for a couple of days. Note the low, mostly white buildings, unpaved street & trees. There is probably a grapevine arbor in the front of someone's house

further down the street. You see them everywhere.

Next is the quilt,

Hope In The Mahalleh,

which I made a bunch of years ago for my first trip to this region of Asia. At that time my friend, who I team taught with on this trip, was living in another country of this region. We collaborated on this quilt using elements she saw in other art quilts in my studio. Photos of her mahalleh (similar to the 1st photo) inspired the street scene. Turquoise is the color of power and protection in their world view, so adding that was important.

Now what about the cats!?! (Click on the quilt to see them.) When I was finishing up this quilt, my friend said it would be OK to add some whimsey, like the stray cats in her mahalleh. In my enthusiasm I added 12! But for this trip back to the region we decided the cats were distracting & I removed 9. The 3 on the roof stayed as that is where they like to hangout anyway.

One of my greatest pleasures as an artist is seeing people engaged with my artwork. The scene in the 3rd photo was repeated many times, over 2 weeks. They loved seeing the quilts up close and personal. Tomorrow...more of the mahalleh story.

EXCHANGING THE LABEL OF SHAME

1 out of every 3 women in this remote Asian country experience domestic violence. Not only is it condoned but the husband's friends encourage him to beat his wife to show her who is boss. Should the abused wife escape back to her family, they would just send her back.

In this shame based culture, women who experience violence never talk about it. That would bring shame on her. But these poor women are already filled with shame & guilt. They have no selfworth or hope. Does anyone love them? Does anyone care?

We were invited to come alongside our NGO friends & bring them some new 'tools' to use in helping these women. My friend taught the Woman at the Well story about another woman also filled with shame. Connecting this woman and her experience to women in their culture would hopefully bring value & hope into their lives.

The art project was about 3 'labels' the Woman at the Well might have worn. A label about how others viewed her. A label about how she viewed herself. A label about how God viewed her. Sharing the meaning of the finished labels is an important part of processing the teaching and their response.

Photos: Creative activity at the table. A few labels created by our friends. I left gluesticks, painted papers & blank labels so they could carry on the teaching themselves.

STORY TELLING THE CREATION

The Creation quilt has been around the world: New Zealand, China, Australia, Nigeria, South Korea & even to this region of Asia a few years ago. But this was my first time to share it in this country. It was the first of three quilts I brought to show.

People love looking at this quilt - there's so much to discover. It pictures the Creation narrative from Genesis 1 in seven horizontal bands. Here I'm story telling through a translator.

Photos I took of the region's barren landscape & fruit at the bazaar remind me of the words describing day 3 in the Creation account:

And God said, "...let the dry land appear."And it was so.

Then God said, "Let the dry land produce vegetation ... trees on the land that bear fruit..." And it was so.

To see the Creation quilt click here.

ATLAS FOR STORY ROPES

In this part of the world it's not the market but the bazaar. So off to the bazaar we headed on the second day of the trip. We were in search of atlas, the ethnic fabric of this region of Asia, which we would use in the story ropes.

Winding our way through the maze we finally came upon a woman who sold me 5 different patterns of atlas. With the addition of local fabric, my list of art materials was complete!

Working with NGO's (non-government organizations), we would be meeting with multiple groups of women in 3 cities - all affected in some way by abuse & domestic violence.

My friend's role would be that of teacher, storyteller and counselor. Mine would be to share artwork and do creative hands-on with the women. We came with a lot of teaching material & art work - the content and sequence, flexing with each group's needs.

Together we were there to bring encouragment, hope & light into this very dark place. The teaching and art possiblities would be carried on by the NGO's in each city after we left for home.

In the next couple of days, I'll be posting how the quilts & collages were recieved, storytelling on the tags/labels, and creating & sharing the story ropes. Also how the children of the NGO workers were inspired.

CONCRETE & COLOR (1st trip post)

I feel like I've just emerged from the old Soviet Union. Although this part of Asia became independent in the early '90's, the concrete apartment buildings stand as a reminder of the Soviet era.

Snapped this one from our taxi. Maybe some collage possibilities - color against concrete.

Then again - maybe not.

I'll be sharing photos & experiences in upcoming posts.

But today I'll keep it short. Still recovering from the 24+ hours of travel time door to door yesterday. 15 of those hours on Turkish Air.

THERE'S ART IN MY SUITCASE

Everything's in the suitcase now - art quilts, artist books, labels, collages, postcards and materials for making story ropes & labels. Tomorrow I'm heading off with a dear friend for team teaching in the back of beyond.

I'll be On The Dark Side Of The Moon for a few weeks, so no blogging, email or FB. Be back online in December.

Lunar Circle

Postcards from Kunming series

aka On The Dark Side Of The Moon

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

Choosing art to bring on my trip for sharing. This series on Suffering has resonated with people I've met from around the world. I made these collages prompted by a conversation with a friend who was going through, as she called it, a trial by fire.

I can't explain it but I needed, at a soul level, to make these collages as an act of prayer for her. While creating I reflected on my own experience with suffering. Verses written by the collages are from Job & gave me hope on my own long journey.

It is amazing how these abstract pictures communicate experience and hope cross-culturally.

Yes, I will tuck SUFFERING into my suitcase too.

Job 23:8-10

But if I go to the east,

He is not there;

If I go to the west,

I do not find Him;

When He is at work in the north,

I do not see Him

When He turns to the south,

I catch no glimpse of Him.

But He knows the way I take;

When He has tested me,

I will come forth as gold.

Top to bottom:

Suffering (cover)

The God Who Is There

Where Are You God?

Furnace of Belief

Emerging Golden

STORIES ON THE ROPE

...my childhood was very happy

...then the war

...this was the depression

...and this was Pearl Harbor

...my mother died in childbirth

...there was no work-we moved

...my father died in Auschwitz

...I liked playing in the dirt with my brother's friends

...Hitler came & it was bad for a long time

...I went to college

...we were poor

...my mother wanted me

to study to get a job

...we went to a lake in Hungary

...I had 3 careers

...we had a wonderful life

Making & sharing their story ropes today at the Watermark. My reward was hearing their stories. They did not know each others life history before today.

WHAT A JUMBLE

Tomorrow I'll do the story ropes with seniors at the Watermark. They have a great art room to work in. Collecting up: cut fabric strips 2 1/2" x 35" - 1 per person; ribbons in assorted colors*; buttons & thread; fabric scraps; & scissors.

I'll be telling them that this is not a piece of artwork or even a craft. It is simply a way think through your life sequentially by tieing pieces of ribbon, buttons, small strips of fabric on to the long strip. Each piece is thoughtfully chosen to represent a significant event, experience, person, location, whatever. When they are done making their 'rope' they are welcome to share their story with the rest of the group. But only if they want. (Usually they do.)

My story rope on the mantle. I develped the story rope idea in Rwanda, working with the genocide survivors, as a way to process the pain in their lives. It was the Rwandan's who came up with the term story rope.

*Decided to save the ribbons for the trip. The fabric options will be plenty.