The award-winning Domestic Duster Project, established by Vanessa Marr in 2014, uses the power of stitch to give women a voice in domestic contexts where they are otherwise silenced, unheard, or ignored.
The project invites women to embroider their domestic experiences, complaints, and celebrations as words or images onto a yellow duster. This exhibition showcases a selection of dusters that have been embroidered by women from across the world, challenging the legacy of so-called women’s work.
Join Vanessa, as she shares the personal stories behind some of the dusters.
The Duster Project: https://domesticdusters.wordpress.com/about-this-project/ / https://www.instagram.com/domesticdusters/
“Each duster is unique and hand-stitched, transforming it from cleaning cloth to craftivist act. Whilst conversations often begin around cleaning, this is not the focus, rather it is a route to discussing women’s lived experiences and expectations of care, the mental load, and the sharing (or not) of home-based responsibilities. The experience of embroidering a duster for exhibition also addresses the benefits of stitching for health and wellbeing and the solidarity of group participation and common experience. The ever-growing collection includes hundreds of dusters that have been exhibited and presented widely in community, creative and academic contexts across the UK, mainland Europe, and Florida, USA. ” – Duster project.
This is an on-going project. Anyone, of any ability and from any part of the world can take part.
Filmed at the Knitting & Stitching Show, London 2023.
For a more inspiration, please browse the ‘Meet the Artist’ collection on my YouTube Channel.