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Embroidery in times of crisis: identity and resilience
Exhibition 6 -29 mai 2026, Espace exposition MACI, Université Grenoble - FR
For a long time, embroidery has been associated with the domestic sphere and with women. Classified as ‘folk art’ or ‘craft’, it has long been perceived as decorative and utilitarian, which has effectively relegated it to the margins of Art.
However, in a contemporary world marked by multiple crises—political, social, economic, ecological and health-related—its status is changing, thanks to committed artists and craftspeople taking part in actions to raise awareness, challenge the status quo and rebuild identity. Embroidery is becoming a powerful medium for transmitting memories, resistance and the affirmation of marginalised subjectivities (Chapelain, 2025; LaDuke, 1983). Whether associated with traditional materials (shirts, headdresses, aprons, napkins, handkerchiefs, gloves, etc.) or presented as a contemporary artistic creation, the act of embroidery allows stories of war, exile, mourning, struggle and resilience to be transcribed into an alternative form of expression. The case of Ukrainian vyshyvanka (embroidery) powerfully demonstrates how it becomes a political tool and a symbolic gesture of identity survival (Gorski, 2021; Greet, 2024).
It can also take the form of discreet or explicit activism—whether feminist or environmental—challenging social norms, power relations and dominant narratives (Parker, 1984; Bernard, 2018).
The aim of this exhibition is to extend the discussions between the speakers at the Study Day through works that employ traditional or intuitive embroidery techniques as a form of engaged expression. It will allow for further reflection over a longer period and reach a wider audience. The exhibition space on the second floor of the MACI will bring together works by artists from the Ukrainian diaspora, as well as Polish, Canadian and French artists, who are reinventing the act of embroidery within alternative narratives of the history of conflict and resistance. The exhibition will also showcase several pieces of traditional embroidery, such as 20th-century Ukrainian rushnyks and gloves embroidered by craftswomen from Grenoble. The study day and exhibition are a collaboration between the Litt&Arts and ILCEA4 research groups, the GATES project and the MACI.
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