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Human Rights at Home Blog
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Quilts and Human Rights — A Vibrant Site of Human Rights Activism

By humanrightsathome

Looking for some late summer reading?  Need a break from the daily distresses of the Presidential election?  A fascinating new book published by the University of Nebraska Press, Quilts and Human Rights, offers a unique (and feminist) perspective on human rights and social movements.  According to the book jacket:

“Quilts and Human Rights offers a new understanding of the history of global human rights as seen through textiles of awareness and activism. Of all the textile forms linked to human rights activities, one form—the quilt—has proved an especially potent and popular form for individuals, working alone or as part of organized groups, to subversively or overtly act for human rights. Through a description of this activity over time and space, Quilts and Human Rights advances awareness of critical human rights issues: suffrage, race relations, civil wars, natural disasters, HIV/AIDs, and ethnic, sexual, and gender discrimination. Quilts and Human Rights pays tribute to the individuals who have used needle skills to prick the conscience and encourage action against human rights violations.”  

The book authors, all located at the Michigan State University Museum, are:  Marsha MacDowell, the curator of folk arts and a professor of art and art history; Mary Worrall, the curator of cultural heritage and an education co-manager; Lynne Swanson, an assistant curator of folk arts and cultural collections manager; and Beth Donaldson, the collections assistant for quilts and a digital cultural resources manager.  Desmond Tutu, winner of the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize, contributed a Forward to the book.

Can’t get enough?  A rich interview with a human rights quiltmaker April Shipp, conducted in conjunction with the MSU human rights quilt project, is available on Youtube.  And more information on up-to-the-minute quilts decrying gun violence in 2016 is available here.

Want to combine your summer reading with a road trip?  The book is accompanied by an exhibit of human rights-related quilts, on display through December 31, 2016, at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan.