“…the arpilleras were a ... way to interpret my pain and at the same time communicate it to others … a denouncement … my protest through the arpilleras has been silent, strong, desperate, full of unending tears. ” (p145) Mireya Rivera Veliz (Sepúlveda, 1996)

Roberta Bacic, Conflict Textiles curator was honoured to attend Reverse Migration, a Poetic Journey, the first solo exhibition in Ireland by internationally renowned Chilean artist, poet, and activist Cecilia Vicuña at the IMMA, Dublin. Roberta photographed with Cecilia. imma.ie/whats-on/cec...

On display @ulsteruni.bsky.social Coleraine campus library is a poignant memorial to Chilean woman Teresa Durán, who died in 2011. Teresa was an anthropologist and human rights academic, whose work led her to focus on the issue of the Mapuche people identity. cain.ulster.ac.uk/conflicttext...

The Mapuche, an indigenous people in Southern Chile have endured colonisation for well over 500 years. Forcibly displaced many live in the capital Santiago. Land struggles and demanding restitution is an ongoing issue…https://cain.ulster.ac.uk/conflicttextiles/search-quilts2/fulltextiles1/?id=400

Good to meet this week with Butterflies in Spirit / Memory group from Transformative Memory International network. Mostly indigenous women connected to the indigenous disappeared women in Canada. They visited our exhibition @ulsteruni.bsky.social Belfast campus

Human Rights 2025 Programme From 8-10 Dec Conflict Textiles in collaboration with @ulsteruni.bsky.social @ulsteruniincore.bsky.social @qubelfastofficial.bsky.social and The Tower Museum will host a 3 day programme to mark #internationalhumanrightsday cain.ulster.ac.uk/conflicttext...

Yesterday the Conflict Textiles Trust met @ulsteruni.bsky.social to discuss future plans. Pleasure to meet with colleagues from @ulsteruniincore.bsky.social and CAIN

NEW Short film. Threads of Conflict, by Bavatharani Anantharaja, 2025. It explains what Conflict Textiles is and how it has developed. Bavatharani made this as part of her Social Documentary module, Masters Degree in Film and TV Production @ulsteruni.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT5S...

It is #bookweek in Northern Ireland. In 2023 we published The book, Arpilleras Poéticas to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1973 coup. Arpilleras Poéticas brings Latin American poetry into dialogue with textile art cain.ulster.ac.uk/conflicttext...

A large crowd attended the exhibition opening which was addressed by the curators, Museum Director and the Chilean Ambassador in Poland, Rodrigo Ruiz

The What Are Our Collective Dreams? Global Connections - Abandoned Friendships exhibition at the Zacheta in Warsaw opened last night. It is spectacular and Conflict Textiles is pleased to be part of it.

About to participate in this event at Zacheta, Warsaw zacheta.art.pl/pl/kalendarz...

Set up well underway at the Zachęta – National Gallery of Art in Warsaw. Looking forward to the opening tomorrow evening. This textile Day of visit is on display cain.ulster.ac.uk/conflicttext...

All packed and ready for our journey to Warsaw. Excited to be part of this important exhibition and for the opportunity to further expand our networks. cain.ulster.ac.uk/conflicttext...

Today we are packing our textiles to take to Warsaw. In 2022 we made a short video for the exhibition Tras las huellas de los/as desaparecidos/as in Mexico. It shows the textiles for that exhibition being prepared and packed for the journey to Mexico. www.youtube.com/watch?v=yN4j...

The next rotation of our Rincón de la Arpillera Embajadora is now live. The arpillera on display is Danza del pueblo mapuche cain.ulster.ac.uk/conflicttext... (Photo: Roser Corbera)

One arpillera we will display in Warsaw is Al Servicio de la vida / Servicing life It depicts many activities and areas of support that the Catholic church undertook to assist part of the population persecuted and abandoned by the Pinochet dictatorship. cain.ulster.ac.uk/conflicttext...

What Are Our Collective Dreams? Global Connections - Abandoned Friendships. The exhibition opens the archives of Zachęta to revisit the networks of global artistic relations forged during the socialist era in Poland. Conflict Textiles is delighted to be part of it cain.ulster.ac.uk/conflicttext...

For International Day of Nonviolence on 2 Oct 2025 @ulsteruni.bsky.social Library Belfast Campus will welcome the university community and beyond to an interactive session that explores and shares direct experiences and testimonies of nonviolent practise and action. cain.ulster.ac.uk/conflicttext...

Cultura y Ciudadanía Dialoga con Mondiacult A photo taken by Roser Corbera of the session Left to right, Maider Maraña(moderator), Xabier Fidel Paya Ruiz, Aida Šehović & Roberta Bacic

Don’t forget you can see details on all our textiles and every event we have organised or participated in on our fully searchable online archive. Conflicttextiles.com

In her talk today at Cultura y Ciudadanía Dialoga con Mondiacult Conflict Textiles Curator Roberta Bacic will illustrate the power of textile art cain.ulster.ac.uk/conflicttext...

We have a number of short films about Conflict Textiles available on UTube. This one is Following in the Footsteps of the Disappeared m.youtube.com/watch?v=HYpW...

Today is #worldalzheimersday and this machine quilted piece by Irene explores Alzheimer’s disease, a condition described by the UK Alzheimer’s society as “a physical illness which damages a person’s brain eventually causing dementia”. cain.ulster.ac.uk/conflicttext...

Cultura y Ciudadanía Dialoga con Mondiacult, Barcelona 26-27 Sept Roberta Bacic participa el 26 por la tarde en la mesa de debate: “Encuentros y desencuentros. Los formatos, límites y lenguajes del arte ante el conflicto”. cain.ulster.ac.uk/conflicttext...

Tomorrow @ulsteruni.bsky.social Coleraine Campus Library we open an exhibition comprised of 6 arpilleras themed on portraits made by contributors to Conflict Textiles which represent people important to culture, art and peace, both in NI and beyond. cain.ulster.ac.uk/conflicttext...

This arpillera, by TL Mujeras Creatives workshop is a replica of an original made in a Mujeres Creativas workshop in 1985. Here we can see clearly that TL, like other arpilleristas from Peru, adopted much from the Chilean tradition. cain.ulster.ac.uk/conflicttext...

This arpillera shows a credit union in a poor neighbourhood. It shows the exterior on the bottom half of the work, and the inside on the upper half. cain.ulster.ac.uk/conflicttext...

Ten years ago the Arpillera: Chilean appliques that narrate in silence アルピジェラ ～沈黙のなかで物語る、チリのキルト～ exhibition was held in Japan. cain.ulster.ac.uk/conflicttext...

This arpillera, upbeat and hopeful against the backdrop of poverty and political repression, depicts scenes from everyday life in a Santiago “población” (poor area). Industrious arpilleristas are at work, streets are being swept and neighbours chat at their doors. cain.ulster.ac.uk/conflicttext...

New publication available through open access. Public History in Global Perspective… Conflict Textiles features in chapter by Nico Ferguson Crossing Borders in Cloth, from Collectivizing to Commemorating…. Full details www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi...

The city of Puno is located in the southeast corner of Peru, on the shores of the magnificent Lake Titicaca and only 126km from the border with Bolivia. At an altitude of 3,827m, Puno is a melting pot of Indian cultures #unworldlakeday cain.ulster.ac.uk/conflicttext...

Our exhibition with @ark-ni.bsky.social at @qubelfastofficial.bsky.social McClay Library The themes of the five pieces connect to ARK's annual Northern Ireland Life and Times survey, which in 2024 included questions exploring public attitudes to climate change. cain.ulster.ac.uk/conflicttext...

Conflict Textiles has a long relationship with @ulstermuseum.org and we’re looking forward to a good catch up later this week. Our major retrospective Threads of Empowerment ran June 2024 - April 2025 cain.ulster.ac.uk/conflicttext...

It is 10 years since we launched our searchable online Conflict Textiles archive. This helps us in promoting the collection, building our networks and connecting to our communities. Thanks to CAiN @ulsteruni.bsky.social for developing and maintaining the site. cain.ulster.ac.uk/conflicttext...

Delighted to have textile artist Ana Zlatkes from Argentina visit us this week to deliver textiles and discuss plans. We had time for a lovely beach walk.

Ana Zlatkes, textile artist and Conflict Textiles Ambassador in Argentina has 12 pieces documented in our collection. including this Ausencias - Presencias 2 / Absences – Presences 2 that she kindly donated cain.ulster.ac.uk/conflicttext...

Roberta Bacic, Conflict Textiles curator, will participate in Cultura Y Ciudanía Dialoga con Mondiacult in Barcelona 26-27 Sept 2025 cain.ulster.ac.uk/conflicttext...

The most recent textile to be documented in the collection is Cadê Heleny? / Searching Heleny This arpillera, stitched by Estela Carvalho, was designed and curated by Esther Vital as the poster for her film “Searching Heleny /Cadê Heleny? (2022)”. cain.ulster.ac.uk/conflicttext...

It’s #internationalcatday and we in Conflict Textiles love our cats. Here is Benson!

The traditional Chilean dance, La Cueca, is danced in pairs… In La Cueca Solo…the women dance alone. Their husbands, sons, brothers, or lovers have been disappeared or exiled, so they continue the dance, wearing the image of their loved ones over their hearts. cain.ulster.ac.uk/conflicttext...

This colourful and somewhat childlike arpillera from the late 1970s, depicts a scene where campaigners are distributing pamphlets to pedestrians and drivers to raise awareness about the "Disappeared." cain.ulster.ac.uk/conflicttext...

The troubles in Peru have forced many people to seek refuge in new lands. One woman, Mariela Ochoa, was forced to leave for Bolivia. She tells her story in this piece. cain.ulster.ac.uk/conflicttext...

Conflict Textiles is involved in 6 live exhibitions at the moment including at La Bonne in Barcelona cain.ulster.ac.uk/conflicttext...

Many Conflict Textiles’ decisions and discussions happen with a walk! Roberta and Gillian enjoying a walking catch up in Derry earlier this week.

This arpillera in the traditional style with the Andes mountains and a red sun under which figures toil carrying water. The people have had their water supply cut off by the government in order to bully them into silence and stopping their anti-government protests. cain.ulster.ac.uk/conflicttext...

This piece was made in an arpillera workshop…during some of the worst years of the Pinochet dictatorship. The participants - who had family members or relatives who were disappeared - were prompted by the facilitator to draw on and depict memories of a happier time cain.ulster.ac.uk/conflicttext...

Slow Memory - Capstone Conference Porto. Photo galleries from the conference and workshop are now available cain.ulster.ac.uk/conflicttext...

We've changed our banner to this textile by Linda Adams 'Landfill Orchestra'. She shows how a community initiative proves that refuse can be given a second life, and that children neglected by larger society are just as deserving of opportunity... cain.ulster.ac.uk/conflicttext...

Today Roberta Bacic gives a plenary session and Conflict Textiles associate Helen Maguire leads a workshop at the Slow Memory – Capstone Conference Porto 2025 cain.ulster.ac.uk/conflicttext...