Subversive Stitching

Overview

Think back to your kindergarten years and there’s probably a few things that still stick in your mind, whether it’s snuggling with your favourite plush at nap time or getting your hands sticky with glitter at the craft table. But what happens when you turn these fond memories of normalcy and childhood on their head? If you’ve seen Annette Messager’s latest retrospective exhibition at the MCA, you’ll know that such cherished toys can instantly be transformed into ghoulish terrors more likely to be found in a nightmare than a five-year-old’s playpen.

Now you too can follow Messager’s creative footsteps and try a hand at reinventing everyday objects into works of art, grotesque or not. MCA’s series of Subversive Stitching workshops, led by textile expert and artist Nicole Barakat, promises to teach embroidering, stitching and sewing for you to apply to your dolls, soft toys and clothing, with the twist that results need not be pretty. Beginners are welcome and materials are provided. It’s certainly high time we all sit down at the craft table again.