The Fabric of Healing: Story Cloths by Survivors of Trauma, War and Gender-Based Violence

This exhibition brings together 22 story cloths made by women from Bosnia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ecuador and Nepal as part of a recovery program designed for survivors of sexual violence, trauma, and displacement in conflict-affected areas.

Common Threads Project, in collaboration with local partners, has developed a transformative trauma intervention where women can heal together, find their strength, and create community. This integrative therapeutic process is rooted in current neuro-scientific understandings of trauma and inspired by an ancient cultural practice of sewing story cloths to depict experiences that can be impossible to express in words.
The textiles are storytellers — they are messengers. They convey unspeakable suffering with power and immediacy and also demonstrate courage, resilience and human dignity.

Despite the haunting scenes of human rights abuse, violence, and loss, the story cloths also bring us into the fullness of the lives of their makers. They will not spare us the depth of their pain. They will also bring us the sun, the rivers, the fields of their villages; they will speak of love and care.

The exhibit invites us to bear witness; to be a part of the healing process of the survivors by hearing their stories, acknowledging their pain, and affirming their hopes. Might this interaction change us too, and inspire us to act in solidarity?

This exhibit, and the work it features, is made possible by donations from people like you. Please visit commonthreadsproject.org to learn how you can support the creators of these cloths in their trauma recovery.

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