Threads of belonging: weaving stories of migration

On a chilly Friday morning in Wales, west Carmarthen to be precise, we hosted our first heritage workshop of the new year to understand how migration has influenced the Welsh culture we know and love. With representatives from a range of countries that could have resembled a UN summit — Wales, Iran, Kurdistan, Nigeria, England, Poland, Kurdistan, and Yemen — we gathered happily together. Our aim? To explore each one of our unique journeys through textiles.  Hands stitching a migration story.

Led by artist Maryisa Penn, we used beautiful fibres, threads, pens, and objects to represent the experience of leaving your place of origin, or the place you consider home.

Each participant lovingly decorated their artwork to reflect their feelings about that special feeling known as hiraeth: a longing for home which can create emotions more powerful than words can describe. In this quiet, thoughtful space together, people chose to stitch symbols of their past, their hopes for the future, or pieces of their identity.

For us, it was truly amazing to see everyone’s experiences come to life in fabric— each piece totally unique yet connected by a shared theme of resilience and the search for belonging.

As well as creating beautiful artwork with our hands, through our words we connected over shared understandings. Like many meaningful conversations, we talked together over a paned – a cuppa tea. We also took delight in delicious baklava, that tasty and sweet pastry of Middle Eastern origins that is now so popular it’s available in all good UK supermarkets.

Participants listening to each other at a migration heritage workshop.Happily full, we took some time to choose words to represent each of our journeys. People shared stories about the there, the here, and what lies in between. And of course, what an opportunity for us to celebrate each other’s works of art! It was really moving to hear people’s stories and journeys. And it showed us how important it was to treat each and every tale as carefully and precious as the textiles we had made.

Like all good things, the workshop had to eventually end. But as we returned — whether to Cardiff, Swansea, Pontarddulais, Ammanford, or Pontyates — we carried a piece of each other’s journey with us.

One woman with her arm around her friend.

 

If you’d like to find out about our upcoming heritage workshops, get in touch with our team for all the details. This project is made possible by our wonderful funders – the National Lottery Heritage Fund.