Lesson video

Hello, my name is Ms. Holland, and I'll be teaching you today.

And today, our lesson is all about quilting, and specifically, the subversive power of quilting, as part of our unit, "An overview of craft." By the end of today's lesson, you will be able to explain what subversive quilting is and as well design a quilt square to tell a story.

Our keywords today are quilting, subversive, symbol, and symbolism.

And our lesson is of two parts, where we're gonna be exploring those keywords in far more detail.

The first part will be discussing what subversive quilting is and looking at some examples.

And the second is really exciting, and that's about sharing and designing our paper quilts and stories.

So let's start with discussing subversive quilting.

Have a look at this image.

I want you to say what it is and which craft form it is.

Well done.

I think you probably said a quilt, which is correct.

And of course, that's a textile craft form.

And here's another example.

Quilting is the process of sewing together layers of fabric to create a padded textile.

Here, you can see lots of different layers of fabrics sewn together.

And often, the patterns are really intricate.

Intricate means detailed.

And although decorative, quilts are often used for functional items. So every day, a purposeful, useful item such as blankets.

And they're even used as a form of artistic expression and storytelling, which is incredibly important for us today.

Have a look at this quilt.

How would you describe the use of pattern and color in this quilt? Hmm.

I would say very geometric in pattern and bright, bold colors.

Very striking.

And in contrast, what about this quilt? What do you think the quiltmaker was expressing in this piece? Have a really good, detailed look.

The circles make me think of the moon, and the movement from the dark to the light makes me think of night to day.

So I wonder whether it's the different phases of the moon or the cycle of the moon.

I wonder what you think.

And what about this quilt? This is a different style of quilt.

What story do you think the quilter was sharing? What animals can you see? I can see a rhinoceros and a tree, which makes me think that the story might be associated to that landscape.

Quick check for understanding.

Quilting is the process of sewing together layers of.

Charcoal, paint, or fabric? Pause the video.

Well done.

I'm sure you all got that correct.

It's quilting is the process of sewing together layers of fabric.

Well done.

Here's another quilt.

Rooted in traditional practices, quilting has historically been a way to tell stories and so preserve to keep traditions.

Traditional quilting uses symmetry, as you can see in this beautiful pattern here, beauty and craftsmanship.

Because remember, it is a craft.

Quilters use their hands and skillfully design.

African-American quilting traditions use symbols and patterns tied to oral histories and resistance.

Oral histories are histories that are passed down orally, by voice.

And they use quilts to pass those histories onwards.

True or false check for understanding.

Historically, quilting has been a way to tell stories and so preserve cultural traditions.

Pause the video.

Well done.

Yes, it's true.

And pause the video again, try and explain why.

Well done.

You may have written something like this, "Quilting uses fabric as a storytelling medium." Let's start looking at specific quiltmakers.

Harriet Powers, a formerly enslaved Black American, he was born in 1837, used subversive quilting to preserve stories of African American life during a time when Black voices were silenced.

There were simple bold designs and symbols in Harriet Powers' quilt.

The symbol shed incredibly powerful messages.

For example, biblical symbols like the hand of God represented struggle and hardship.

Star symbols represented hope and freedom.

And animals and nature symbols reflected the resilience of enslaved people.

Harriet Powers' quilts show that art can preserve history as powerfully as words.

True or false check for understanding.

Harriet Powers' quilting challenged the idea that only written words could document history.

Pause the video.

Well done.

Of course, that's true.

And why? Pause the video again.

Well done.

Because they show that art can be just as powerful as words for sharing important events and ideas.

Moving from quilting to subversive quilting.

Subversive quilting is a form of quilting that builds on traditional quilting techniques but challenges the conventions, the traditions, by introducing unconventional, non-traditional themes, non-traditional materials, and non-traditional messages.

Subversive quilting often uses symbols to express these unconventional ideas, to critique societal issues or to look around in society and critique what is going on.

And explore themes such as politics, identity, and activism.

A check for understanding for subversive quilting.

So, true or false? Subversive quilting is a form of quilting that uses only the most traditional quilting techniques.

Pause the video.

Let's have a look.

Yes, that's not true.

Subversive quilting is a form of quilting that builds on traditional quilting techniques but challenges the conventions by introducing non-traditional or unconventional themes, materials, or messages.

So the techniques remain the same, but the themes, materials, messages challenged.

In 2021, Sui Searle and Dr.

Jess Bailey came together to work on a project.

Dr.

Jess Bailey is a UK quilter and Sui Searle is from the anti-racist gardening community.

And they came together to work together on a project called "Racial Justice is Land Justice: A Quilt Fundraiser for Land in Our Names." And the project highlighted how racism made it harder for people of color in the UK to access land and green spaces.

Why was access to green spaces important during the pandemic? Why do you think? Jess Bailey made the quilt from fabric that had been dyed from local produce from different communities, which is amazing.

So, different communities sent in different pieces of fabrics that had been dyed from either produce or flowers in their community.

So not only did the quilt symbolically represent the community, but it literally did as well, because the pieces of material were dyed from those different communities.

And these fabrics also symbolized a connection to the earth and the importance of land justice.

This project shows how quilting continues as a living tradition, uniting people around shared causes.

A check for understanding.

True or false? The quilt project was subversive because it used fabric that had been dyed from local produce in different communities.

True or false? Well done.

It's false.

Because it was subversive because it used quilting to talk about important issues like racism and land rights.

Some other examples are Faith Ringgold's "Tar Beach 2" quilt from 1990, Grayson Perry's "The Comfort Blanket" from 2012, and Jahnavi Innesss' work titled "Black British History 1729 to 1875," and they all use subversive quilting to express important ideas about race, gender, and fairness.

Each of these artists use quilting to express powerful messages and challenge traditional ideas, making their work subversive in different ways.

So for our first task, I'd like you to discuss and answer the following questions after choosing a subversive quilt, perhaps one that we've looked at, to analyze.

And if you're on your own working at home, you can think about these questions and then perhaps write notes to record.

The first question is, how is the quilt design organized? Second is, what symbols or images can you see in the quilt? Do they tell a story or convey a message? What colors do you notice? What do these colors communicate? For example, like looking at the quilt earlier, I thought the dark and the light communicated night and day.

And how is this quilt subversive? This is really important.

In what ways does it challenge traditional ideas or social norms? Pause the video.

Well done.

We're gonna look at what our people said now, and they chose Faith Ringgold's work.

And Andeep has said, "Faith Ringgold's 'Tar Beach' looks like both a storybook and a quilt.

It shows girls flying over a city and a bridge.

And the quilt uses text and symbols to tell the artist's story." And Izzy says, "Faith Ringgold used bright colors like red and yellow, and blue.

Her quilt tells stories about racial justice and freedom." Well done.

We've looked at what subversive quilting is.

We're gonna now move on to designing our own paper quilts.

And to do that, we want to explore symbolism.

Symbolism in quilts can carry deeper meanings and tell powerful stories.

And the word symbolism has two parts.

We have symbol, here in green, which means an object or sign.

That's the root word.

And then the suffix ism means that using symbols to express deeper meanings or messages.

So the ism means that using of symbols.

Artists use symbolism to represent deeper meanings beyond what they see.

In 2022, German quilter, Claudia Pfeil, started the "Banners for Peace" quilt project after the invasion of Ukraine.

She asked quilters worldwide to create blue and yellow quilt blocks, representing the Ukrainian flag.

Many included symbols like hearts, doves, and peace messages, which stand for love, unity, and peace.

These symbols showed support for Ukraine and shared empathy for those affected by the war.

Thinking about symbols of peace, which ones of these do you think represent symbols of peace? Pause the video.

Well done.

Yes, it is indeed A and C.

And C is, of course, a dove.

By reducing an image to its most basic form, a symbol can express powerful messages that are easily understood.

So, reducing the detail and making it to its most basic form can make a symbol express powerful messages that are easily understood.

Here are some examples.

And these are universally understood.

For example, the tick on the left.

Can you think of the other symbols? So a check for understanding.

How do symbols create a powerful message? Do they use detailed pictures, simplify an image, combining lots of different images, or showing every part of an idea? Pause the video.

Well done.

Of course, symbols create a powerful message by simplifying the image.

These pupils are discussing symbols.

Let's see what they have to say.

So, Jun says, "Shapes like a circle can symbolize family." And we often see that.

We often see circles symbolizing unity and community.

I wonder whether that's because there's no beginning or an end to a circle.

Lucas says, "Flags or animals could be symbols of strength and freedom." And I've seen before, lions being used as a symbol of strength.

Can you think of any other animals that might be used as a symbol of strength? And Sam says, "Colors and numbers can have symbolic meanings." And we know that, often, red is seen to be associated to anger, blue to cool, and yellow to happiness and sunshine.

And finally, Aisha says, "Food can be symbols of heritage and community." Can you think of any other examples? So we're now gonna look at paper quilt squares.

So paper can be used as a quick and easy way to get the effect of a quilt design.

And this example here has been made out of paper.

I want you to take a really, really close look at it.

Can you see how the paper has been layered up on top of each other? So, underneath, there's a collage of different patterns.

And then on top, there is a shape cutouts, silhouettes for profile of the face.

And then on top of that, there's other shapes.

And if you look closely at those shapes on top of the silhouette of the profile, is a paw print, a symbol.

So let's move on to our last task.

First part of the task is to plan and design a subversive paper version of a quilt section.

So it could be real or imagined, be about family, friends, or something important to you, like fairness, the environment, or helping others, and share a story, memory, or make a statement.

I think I would think about helping others.

And then you're gonna use symbols patterns, text, and colors.

So with my helping others, I think I'd use symbol of two hands interlinked, holding.

And I'd use muted, soft tones to get a sense of sharing and caring across.

And you could create those symbols by cutting images from magazines, sticking them onto colored paper and cutting around them to create simple symbol shapes.

Here's an example.

This has been cut out of the magazine, stuck on green paper, drawn around, and then cut out.

And I think I would do that with my hands.

I think I'd draw around my hands and cut them out.

So they were really simple shapes.

Off you go and start designing your quilt.

Well done.

I would love to be able to see all of your quilts because I imagine they're beautiful.

And I wonder what symbols you chose to use.

Let's have a look at what one of our peoples has done.

So we go back to this quilt that we looked at briefly.

And Izzy says, "I wanted my design to show animal rights and hope for the future.

I drew animal patterns as a background and overlapped them with cutout collaged symbols." And again, we see that, don't we? We see the paw print.

That universal symbol of animals.

Right.

Let's go on to the second part of the task.

And now we're going to collaborate to attach or present your paper quilting designs together in one quilt display.

If you're working at home or on your own, what you can do is look back at those examples of quilts and see how your quilting square would fit in.

And then I would like you to think about how your story would fit in to those quilt.

So if your doing this collaboratively, discuss the stories and messages in the work.

Think about how all the individual quilt squares come together to create a powerful message or story about your community, shared values, or something important to you as a group.

And think about how your designs can complement each other to reflect unity, solidarity, or collective strength.

And here is an example of how you could place your squares together.

But of course, you could place them in any shape you like.

It doesn't even need to be a neat shape, it could be overlapping.

Really consider how it's placed together and what that can symbolize.

Pause the video.

Well done.

Let's see what happened with our peoples.

So, Alex says, "All the different quilt squares represent different people or ideas, but together they form a complete picture," which is so true.

If we think back about those quilts that, actually, all of the individual pieces represent individual people, but when they're brought together, they form a community.

And Sofia says, "I think it looks really powerful as a group, as everyone has approached theirs differently." So having that difference shows that diversity between styles and symbols.

Thank you for joining me today on this lesson called "The subversive power of quilting." We've learned so much, both about traditional quilting and subversive quilting.

We've learned that quilting combine creativity and storytelling, and storytelling is so important.

We've learned that quilting can tell stories through symbols, patterns, and colors, and we've looked at a range of those.

We've learned that symbolism uses symbols to convey deeper meanings or ideas.

We know that symbol is the root word of symbolism.

We know that subversive quilting can challenge unfair ideas and give a voice to those who might not be heard.

And lastly, we've learned that subversive quilting often brings people together, it did today, with you, and helps community share important messages or push for change.

Thank you again and I hope to see you soon.