Fashion on Fil Discussion: Threads – FESCH.TV

FESCH.TV INFORMIERT:

How is it possible to sustain traditions and livelihoods in today’s fashion industry? Join filmmaker Cathy Stevulak for discussion of this award-winning film and the evolution of the tradition of “kantha” embroidery from patchworks of old clothing to articles of fashion.

Threads takes us on a journey with artist Surayia Rahman and a community of embroiderers in Bangladesh who, for three decades and against many odds, help sustain an important textile tradition of “kantha” – the Bengali technique of repurposing old clothing into patchwork embroidered fabrics – by refining it into an internationally recognized art form. The film weaves together stories told by the women and images of textile masterpieces they created that are now in private collections and museums throughout the world. (Cathy Stevulak, 2014, 32 minutes.)

This program is a collaboration with the Sigur Center for Asian Studies at GW’s Elliott School of International Affairs.