The project I'm telling you a story with a needle and thread is conceived as a program of creative - educational and therapeutic workshops that include combining the method of traditional handwork with a needle and thread with focused discussion about the memory of fashion and one's own experience of dressing. The method of embroidering textiles includes traditional skills in working on textiles, traditionally present in women's practices in these areas, but they gradually introduce new contents. The activities within the embroidery workshops represent an elaborate program of physical activity using the "manual work" method, where certain embroidered patterns are made with a needle and thread. Workshop participants train and develop motor values and skills which has an psychological effect on them. Embroidery is connected with talking - retelling and creating a verbalized narrative, where the combination of these two methods (embroidery and talking) achieves psycho-social outcomes of better communication and functioning in the community, as well as a therapeutic, creative and even cognitive effect.
In cooperation with the Rehabilitation Center Zagreb, Sloboština branch, the workshop was held for a group of elderly people, exiled from Ukraine as civilian victims of the war, and placed in Zagreb for permanent care. The cycle of workshops consisted of 5 profiled exercises and conversations. The mentor's work consists of a verbal and practical part that are constantly intertwined. Needle and thread embroidery on canvas is adapted to the capabilities of the participants, as well as the theme of the work. Very detailed explanations and instructions included stories about their own experience of clothing practices in Ukraine, which created a very stimulating atmosphere both creatively and psychologically. This included their traumatic experience of war, fleeing and grief for their homeland and loved ones. Their works thus became complex stories of memory and nostalgia.
The goals of working in a group are multifaceted. What proves to be the most valuable is certainly the context of community building through which different cultural practices are exchanged and combined in the atmosphere of constant dialogue. By bringing and transferring one's own experience, memory and interpretation to a new environment, good communication in the group as well as personal affirmation is achieved through the methods of conversation and creative practical work. In addition to the therapeutic effect itself, multifaceted communication, distinct socialization, as well as a high degree of skill in embroidering decorative and functional products are achieved.
The workshop was realized by the CIMO center team (Ante Tonči Vladislavić, Lea Vene), and Nina Martić, textile designer, and translator Tetyana Kuchma-Mikats.
The project is supported by: the City of Zagreb and the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia.
