AN ART REFUGE PROJECT
Coronaquilt has offered art as a digital thread to connect people across the world with each other and offer hope and ways of coping since the Coronavirus outbreak in 2020.
To date, Coronaquilt has received over 1700 images through Instagram and email, from 36 countries, including from people who are displaced. As each image is added to @coronaquilt, it's automatically stitched to the quilt below. Please take part!
The texts accompanying the images sent in for the Coronaquilt explain that the individual artworks have been made in response to domestic, social and political concerns. The themes range from what the authors would describe as seminal to intimate, political to poetic, concrete to symbolic. These themes, described by participants, have included the changing seasons, climate emergency, migration, social justice, human rights, mental health, Black Lives Matter, LGBTQI+ Pride, the US presidential election, the British government’s handling of the pandemic, domestic violence under lockdown, support for NHS workers and so on. There has been a call and response between the images across countries and borders.
Through direct messaging to our platform on Instagram @coronaquilt (2020) alongside emails, some participants reported that the Coronaquilt was helping them feel less alone in their situation. We started to follow other online quilt projects appearing on Instagram from around the world, such as @covid19quilt (2020), @povertquilt (2020), @stayhomequilt (2020), @quarantine_quilt (2020).
What is a Coronaquilt?
The Corona pattern is a traditional pattern, a bit like a crown, made up of triangles and squares, which are then sewn together to make a patchwork cloth. This is the inspiration, but the design and style of your individual square is up to you, and the uniqueness and variation across the world is what will make this project wonderful.
Instructions...
Make a square image using collage, paint, drawing, photography or text on the theme of 'Rituals of the Everyday.' If these are available, use a piece of cloth or paper 21x21cm square (the length of the short side of an A4 sheet of paper). Otherwise take a photo on your mobile phone using a square format.
You can sew, draw, collage, glue, write, photograph. You can use words or images. If you have none of these materials, you can make your image on your tablet or smartphone. If you can’t get the size or shape right it doesn’t matter!
Send us a photo of your square, alongside your name and a short description. (If you wish to remain anonymous, let us know.) We will share your square on social media @coronaquilt. We will stitch the squares together to create a virtual quilt which you can see above.
Care for your Square!
As Coronavirus progresses and we learn to live with the virus, we are returning to ordinary patterns of life. We encourage you to come together in your local community; Bring with you your individual squares to make a collective Coronaquilt.
Photos can be printed onto paper or cloth. Exhibit the complete patchwork quilt in your local school, town hall or older people’s home - as a collective celebration of resilience, and the Rituals of the Everyday, that have carried each individual person through these challenging times.