Connecting Sitiches (2026)
Graduation Work, MA Non linear Narrative, KABK The Hague
Two years ago, I joined a “Middle Eastern” embroidery group in Rotterdam. The diverse members of our tatreez group might not all speak the same language, yet we form understanding and community with the help of our common embroidery. With Connecting Stitches, I ask what happens if you take a closer look at the experience of this group.
Can the ideas of the group be translated? Can embroidery be used as a tool for communication? For forming connections? For building community? An intercultural language?
At the core of this piece hangs a map: Stitching together historical source material of embroidered textile fragments, cross-stitch motifs, and audio fragments, the map tells the story of patterns moving and migrating. The embroidered motifs originate from all over the Mediterranean and Europe. As such, rather than providing a static geographical depiction, the map is an invitation to discover the shared codes of embroidery, its stories of travel and migration, of connection and communication, and an invitation to intervene.
By inviting visitors to join me in embroidering the map - whether leaving a few stitches or joining a workshop – the map holds conversations, stories, and connections. It turns into a record of a collective experience and community.
Can the ideas of the group be translated? Can embroidery be used as a tool for communication? For forming connections? For building community? An intercultural language?
At the core of this piece hangs a map: Stitching together historical source material of embroidered textile fragments, cross-stitch motifs, and audio fragments, the map tells the story of patterns moving and migrating. The embroidered motifs originate from all over the Mediterranean and Europe. As such, rather than providing a static geographical depiction, the map is an invitation to discover the shared codes of embroidery, its stories of travel and migration, of connection and communication, and an invitation to intervene.
By inviting visitors to join me in embroidering the map - whether leaving a few stitches or joining a workshop – the map holds conversations, stories, and connections. It turns into a record of a collective experience and community.
Finally, every participant left a small note on the back, recording the collective authorship.
Graduation Show 2026
Royal Academy of Arts, The Hague (Netherlands)
Cecilia Iaconelli
Photos:
Cecilia Iaconelli, Roel Backaert, Marina Maschek