Manchester International Festival returns with its third ‘Festival in My Neighbourhood’, Stitch Festival, showcasing the richness of South Asian textile within British culture. New in 2019, Festival in My Neighbourhood is part of MIF’s work supporting people in and around the city to host inspiring community arts events in their own homes and neighbourhoods.
For Stitch Festival, Taslima Ahmad and Numan Azmi of CDM, are opening up their mill in Ardwick to people in their local community. During two days of free workshops from 9-10 October participants will learn tie dying, kantha stitching, screen-printing and block-printing - together creating a large kantha quilt which will be exhibited on Saturday 12 October at CDM, alongside a full day of free activities including, handcrafting workshops, a fashion show, and live traditional music from South Asia. Attendees can also try on different fabrics, have their photograph taken, and meet new people in the area whilst enjoying food and drink.
Stitch Festival is the outcome of extensive community work at CDM by Taslima and Numan sharing their commitment to hand-made textiles. Through these handcrafting techniques, CDM have created a therapeutic and educational environment where people experiencing difficult circumstances can feel safe to share whilst learning new skills.
Taslima said “Like Manchester International Festival, CDM is international in its practice and ambition but has a focus on people in Manchester. I see Manchester’s communities as a large kantha quilt and the work that we do at CDM helps stitch together people from all backgrounds.”
A key part of its year-round programme of activities for residents in Greater Manchester, Manchester International Festival has been supporting people to host inspiring community arts events in their own homes through ‘Festival in My House’ since autumn 2016 and on a larger scale through ‘Festival in My Neighbourhood’ since 2019. Applicants require no experience, with each host helped every step of the way by a team of experienced producers.
Find out more: https://mif.co.uk/whats-on/stitchfestival/
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