Event Details
Colleagues holding the 7 arpilleras presented July 4 at Conflict Textiles plenary (Photo: Slow Memory archive) |
| Conference and Workshop: | Slow Memory – Capstone Conference Porto 2025 |
| Description: | From 2021 to 2025, the COST Action “Slow Memory: Transformative Practices for Times of Uneven and Accelerating Change” has brought together over 300 scholars and stakeholders, from over 40 countries, many disciplines and career stages. It has considered how to capture and respond to environmental, economic, and social change through the novel concept of “slow memory”. Its goal has been to trigger a new discovery phase in memory studies by providing a platform for networked, transnational, multidisciplinary research and policy-making that moves beyond the focus on conflict and eventfulness in commemoration. The action has discussed and shared ideas in many in-person and online meetings, training schools, workshops and writing retreats, producing working papers, a podcast, a virtual exhibition and dozens of scholarly publications. Along the way, they have practiced a “slow” form of meeting, resisting the pressures of sped-up academia and engaging with different places and communities, taking walks and visiting sites that helped us develop an understanding at different tempos. The conference is a culmination of these discussions, practices and communing.
On the final day of the conference Conflict Textiles curator Roberta Bacic will give a plenary session introducing the organisation’s mission and core focuses. The plenary aims to navigate the Conflict Textiles web archive, which documents over 400 textiles, produced across the globe in response to conflict and human rights violations. Five of our textiles will be presented in the flesh for attendees to experience the impact of stitched testimonies.
Later in the day, Helen Maguire will lead a workshop where participants will produce a collaborative textile artwork inspired by the Conflict Textiles collection. Through this we will take time to discuss and meditate on the role of textiles in processing of personal and collective traumas, and their lasting impact as a form of testimony without words. |
| Commissioned by: | Jenny Wüstenberg & Chris Reynolds, professors at Nottingham Trent University |
| Date(s): | 2nd July 2025 - 5th July 2025 |
| Venue: | Faculdade de Letras da Universidade do Porto
ESAD Porto |
| Curator: | Roberta Bacic |
| Facilitator: | Alice Semedo and Isabel Machado Alexandre |
| Outcome: | The participation of Conflict Textiles in the plenary session of the Slow Memory – Capstone Conference Porto 2025 brought a powerful, tangible dimension to the discussions on memory, conflict, and resilience. Through the presentation and narrative of the textiles, your contribution provided an artistic and affective lens that deeply complemented the academic reflections of the conference, connecting personal and collective experiences of memory. This intervention resonated strongly with the audience, fostering a meaningful dialogue between research, art, and lived experience.
The workshop that followed offered participants an opportunity to engage directly and collaboratively in the creation of a textile piece, translating personal and collective reflections into material form. This hands-on experience extended the themes of the plenary into a participatory practice, fostering a sense of community and allowing participants to embody and express memory through creative action. The resulting textile stands as both a record and a testament to the shared experience of the conference. Importantly, this piece is only the beginning: it will be further developed collaboratively in the coming months and subsequently exhibited by ESAD Idea, extending its impact beyond the conference and into the public sphere. |
| Documents: |
• Conflict Textiles Pamphlet - view
• Photo Gallery Plenary Session July 4th - view
• Photo Gallery CT Workshop July 4th - view
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