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April 4, 2008

Embroidery tells story of hardship, humor

By STEVEN HOWELL

ST. LAMBERT, Que. -- Dr. Skye Morrison is very colorfully dressed.

She wears a khatwa draped over her left shoulder, a hand-stitched applique and embroidered shawl made by indigenous women from India's Jharkhand state. It's a wearable piece of art that Morrison calls "textile jewelry." And it's one of three dozen similar works currently on display at the Museum of Costume and Textile of Quebec in St. Lambert in a new exhibition titled "Embroidered Narratage: Visions of the Twenty-First Century Stitched by Indian Women."

The exhibition highlights the embroidery work of two separate groups of women -- Rajput caste Hindu women from Bihar state and Santal aboriginal women from Jharkhand state, both in India. For these women, the embroideries mean a way out of poverty. For Morrison, the empowerment of these indigenous women has become her life's purpose.

"After teaching for 25 years in a design school, I realized there's a reason why I'm doing this. I'm working for people for whom I'll make a difference -- a life and death kind of difference. It's really changed my perception of the world."

ALL FOR NAUGHT

Morrison taught at Sheraton College, a design school in Oakville, Ont., for more than two decades. She received her Ph.D. in folklore from the University of Pennsylvania and first traveled to India on a nine-week field project that began a dozen years ago.

"Basically, I'm a designer and a folklorist," Morrison said. "These two concepts meet in this exhibition."

The women from Bihar create sujuni, straight-stitch embroidery sewn onto two layers of fabric.

"It's also called kantha in India," Morrison said. "They often use old saris and recycle them. It's a decorative art that's practical and very personal."

The finished products include quilts for babies and gifts for weddings or special occasions.

"There's between 115 and 200 stitches to the square inch."

Morrison said that the women were encouraged to join an NGO, Non-Governmental Organization, to create income for themselves.

"But in 2004, the village leaders -- men -- took over and started selling the embroideries for extortionate prices to dealers. They never paid the women for their work."

STARTING AGAIN

After a brief stint back home, Morrison returned in 2005.

"There wasn't a piece of fabric or a stitch of thread left, and nobody had been paid for 14 months," she said. "So we started from scratch."

The two dozen embroideries and design exercises on the main floor of the exhibition are the result of a month-long workshop.

"So all of these pieces I commissioned and paid for. I paid the women directly."

Morrison said doing that was not as easy as it seemed.

"Have you ever been to Bihar? It's full of bandits."

She has had her laptop stolen from inside her locked suitcase aboard a train while sleeping. And she's also received death threats.

All obstacles aside, Morrison says that the Bihar group of women have become self sufficient enough to make a living.

She feels her greatest success has come from the aboriginal Santal women of Jharkhand.

"These women have really answered the question of this exhibition," she said. "I asked them for 10 pieces of what they saw as the past and what they see as the present or the future."

STITCHED STORIES

Morrison was thrilled with the results. She got her 10 colorful pieces -- and more.

The five-foot by two-foot embroideries on display, or khatwa, offer intricate appliqued information of an India as told from the eyes of a very poor but very creative group of women. The narratives indeed explore past and present.

Depicted on the embroideries are fields once plowed by bull cart that are now plowed by tractor. Airplanes fly in the sky, and communication towers dot the stitched landscape. Sewn cell phones and satellite dishes also appear, as do traffic lights. A mini map of India shows the crammed faces of an over-populated country.

"It's real life," Morrison said.

There is one embroidery especially dear to her heart.

"This is me," she said, smiling as she pointed to a stitched figure of herself.

She admitted that she didn't know the group was creating narrative embroideries of this caliber.

"So you can imagine how I felt when I saw them," she said. "These are totally coherent stories that are incredibly well designed. They're a very lively and positive interpretation of a terribly dreadful situation. But these women have a fantastic sense of humor about it.

"And this piece is staying with me no matter what happens."

RAISING FUNDS

To continue the project, Morrison would love for the exhibition to travel. To raise money, she sells the pieces she commissions. She also displays the embroideries at the Doors Guest House (www.thedoorsguesthouse.com), her Hastings, Ontario, bed and breakfast. In addition, she was recently appointed as an adjunct professor at Montreal's Concordia University and eventually hopes to link the groups from India with indigenous women of Panama and Inuit women from Canada in order to continue making and selling their narrative embroideries.

"I'm in it for the long run," Morrison said. "I want these women to be self sufficient."

"Embroidered Narratage" continues until May 25.

The Museum of Costume and Textile of Quebec is at 349 Riverside St. in St. Lambert on Montreal's South Shore (15 North to Highway 132 East -- Exit 6) and is open Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; weekends from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Cost is $4 for adults, $3 for students and seniors and $2 for children 6 to 12. Call (450) 923-6601 or visit www.mctq.org for tickets or more information.

writeonbetty@sympatico.ca

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