
VANESSA MARR AT THE KNITTING & STITCHING SHOW
Vanessa Marr is a textile artist and academic. Her collaborative art project Women & Domesticity - What’s Your Perspective? is at The Knitting & Stitching Show 2023 at Alexandra Palace, London from 5 – 8 October 2023.
We are really excited to have The Domestic Dusters at The Knitting & Stitching Show this year. Vanessa, this globally collaborative project, where women embroider their domestic perspectives, experiences, complaints and celebrations onto a yellow duster, has been underway since 2014 with over 100 contributions. How does it feel to be the curator of such a long-running exhibition that has been evolving and expanding for almost a decade?
It's a real privilege! When I first began this project, I could never have anticipated the reach it would have nor the opportunities that have arisen from it. I have met so many amazing women. Most duster submissions come with a note telling the stitcher’s story. They give insight into the lives of these women, whom despite assumptions are not usually those who have the time to embroider a duster; it is much more likely that they don’t but that they feel driven to because they need their voices to be heard. I also make a point of working with those whose domestic situations are compromised through violence, enforced migration, unpaid caring responsibilities or homelessness, which rarely join the exhibited collection because of their necessarily private nature, but nonetheless share the domestic legacy. It is very humbling.
What do you think the far-reaching geographical origins within the exhibit add to the experience of the collection and how does this impact the meaning behind the work?
I think it’s evidence of the ubiquitous legacy of women’s domestic role. From America to New Zealand, across to Australia then back via Europe, the stories held within the stitches of the dusters from across the world echo similar themes. They include frustration, celebration, lots of humour, sometimes anger but also fond memories of mothers, stories of family and discussions of home and what it means to be a woman today. I’ve discovered that the duster is well-known in the UK, some parts of Europe and Australia, less so in America, New Zealand, or India. This has led to other domestic cloths occasionally joining the collection, which nonetheless represent the same thing – invisibility, mundaneness, lack of value and domesticity.

Image: Vanessa Marr, Self Portrait, 2020.
This project is a craftivist act inviting conversations and challenges to the legacy of women’s work. How has leading this project influenced your own views on the subject?
The project has confirmed what I already suspected which is that traditional gender roles persist, often defaulting to women and commonly as emotional labour too. Whilst I appreciate that those who select to embroider a duster are less likely to be those who enjoy a 50/50 share of the chores, there is no lack of women who have two jobs – one paid, the other when they get home. With younger women, this is particularly prominent in heterosexual households with children, as the so-called second shift often hangs on from maternity leave. For older women, it tends to follow expectations that have persisted, passed down by their own mothers and the 1950s drive to keep women in the home. Craftivism gives women a voice where they would otherwise be hidden, silenced, or simply find it impractical to protest in other ways. For example, I’m currently working with the charity We Care and Oxfam inviting unpaid carers to embroider their experiences onto dusters, which will be displayed at the Senedd in Wales in November this year as a plea to politicians to better support them. My view is that that discussions that challenge the legacy of so-called women’s work are still very much needed!
Dusters are a symbol of domesticity while being visually appealing for striking art. Why was it so important to you that the work was embroidered and what is it about this medium that works so well for social commentary?
Embroidery is crucial as a tangible link to the historical legacy of women working with cloth and stitch. My research with the dusters has revealed that in early societies women often worked this way for practical reasons, whilst simultaneously running the home and childrearing, because it’s a task that can fit around other responsibilities. When I stitch my dusters, I can almost feel my foremothers over my shoulder, juggling it all just as we do now, which hugely inspired my own creative methodology. Over the centuries, as the public and private spheres of society divided to place women firmly in the private space of the home, their opportunities diminished, and it was often used as a tool to keep them under control. More positively however, it was also one of the few ways that women could earn a living and a limited avenue for literacy, so its subversion as a tool for emancipation is a way of referencing the past whilst striving for a fairer future.
Is there a standout piece in the exhibition for you and could you tell us why?
This is a really tough question to answer because they are each powerful in their own way. It’s important to me that each duster is as important as the other so that the women’s voices are given equal merit. My hope is that visitors will discover the duster that most resonates with them.
Your journey as an artist derives from the alignment of your personal stitching practice with academic study. How do you see your work evolving in the future?
For me the two are inseparable. I use the academic research to inspire and underpin my creative work, but likewise have a strong desire to make whilst I’m writing. This has evolved into a practice-based academic practice where I often include embroidery or creative writing within my published papers and book chapters, not as illustrations but as responses in their own right. Whilst the duster remains my obsession (I’m often known as The Duster Lady!), fundamentally I’m interested in the language of cloth objects and the role of embroidery as a creative research method. There is something powerful that happens when the method (embroidery) references the context (women working) upon a cloth that represents the same (women and domesticity). The possibilities for future work on this theme appear endless.
Image courtesy of Vanessa Marr
The Knitting & Stitching Show is on from 5-8 October 2023. Find out more:
www.theknittingandstitchingshow.com
@theknittingandstitchingshows
Book your tickets HERE.
Find out more:
www.domesticdusters.wordpress.com
We are really excited to have The Domestic Dusters at The Knitting & Stitching Show this year. Vanessa, this globally collaborative project, where women embroider their domestic perspectives, experiences, complaints and celebrations onto a yellow duster, has been underway since 2014 with over 100 contributions. How does it feel to be the curator of such a long-running exhibition that has been evolving and expanding for almost a decade?
It's a real privilege! When I first began this project, I could never have anticipated the reach it would have nor the opportunities that have arisen from it. I have met so many amazing women. Most duster submissions come with a note telling the stitcher’s story. They give insight into the lives of these women, whom despite assumptions are not usually those who have the time to embroider a duster; it is much more likely that they don’t but that they feel driven to because they need their voices to be heard. I also make a point of working with those whose domestic situations are compromised through violence, enforced migration, unpaid caring responsibilities or homelessness, which rarely join the exhibited collection because of their necessarily private nature, but nonetheless share the domestic legacy. It is very humbling.
What do you think the far-reaching geographical origins within the exhibit add to the experience of the collection and how does this impact the meaning behind the work?
I think it’s evidence of the ubiquitous legacy of women’s domestic role. From America to New Zealand, across to Australia then back via Europe, the stories held within the stitches of the dusters from across the world echo similar themes. They include frustration, celebration, lots of humour, sometimes anger but also fond memories of mothers, stories of family and discussions of home and what it means to be a woman today. I’ve discovered that the duster is well-known in the UK, some parts of Europe and Australia, less so in America, New Zealand, or India. This has led to other domestic cloths occasionally joining the collection, which nonetheless represent the same thing – invisibility, mundaneness, lack of value and domesticity.

Image: Vanessa Marr, Self Portrait, 2020.
This project is a craftivist act inviting conversations and challenges to the legacy of women’s work. How has leading this project influenced your own views on the subject?
The project has confirmed what I already suspected which is that traditional gender roles persist, often defaulting to women and commonly as emotional labour too. Whilst I appreciate that those who select to embroider a duster are less likely to be those who enjoy a 50/50 share of the chores, there is no lack of women who have two jobs – one paid, the other when they get home. With younger women, this is particularly prominent in heterosexual households with children, as the so-called second shift often hangs on from maternity leave. For older women, it tends to follow expectations that have persisted, passed down by their own mothers and the 1950s drive to keep women in the home. Craftivism gives women a voice where they would otherwise be hidden, silenced, or simply find it impractical to protest in other ways. For example, I’m currently working with the charity We Care and Oxfam inviting unpaid carers to embroider their experiences onto dusters, which will be displayed at the Senedd in Wales in November this year as a plea to politicians to better support them. My view is that that discussions that challenge the legacy of so-called women’s work are still very much needed!
Dusters are a symbol of domesticity while being visually appealing for striking art. Why was it so important to you that the work was embroidered and what is it about this medium that works so well for social commentary?
Embroidery is crucial as a tangible link to the historical legacy of women working with cloth and stitch. My research with the dusters has revealed that in early societies women often worked this way for practical reasons, whilst simultaneously running the home and childrearing, because it’s a task that can fit around other responsibilities. When I stitch my dusters, I can almost feel my foremothers over my shoulder, juggling it all just as we do now, which hugely inspired my own creative methodology. Over the centuries, as the public and private spheres of society divided to place women firmly in the private space of the home, their opportunities diminished, and it was often used as a tool to keep them under control. More positively however, it was also one of the few ways that women could earn a living and a limited avenue for literacy, so its subversion as a tool for emancipation is a way of referencing the past whilst striving for a fairer future.

Is there a standout piece in the exhibition for you and could you tell us why?
This is a really tough question to answer because they are each powerful in their own way. It’s important to me that each duster is as important as the other so that the women’s voices are given equal merit. My hope is that visitors will discover the duster that most resonates with them.
Your journey as an artist derives from the alignment of your personal stitching practice with academic study. How do you see your work evolving in the future?
For me the two are inseparable. I use the academic research to inspire and underpin my creative work, but likewise have a strong desire to make whilst I’m writing. This has evolved into a practice-based academic practice where I often include embroidery or creative writing within my published papers and book chapters, not as illustrations but as responses in their own right. Whilst the duster remains my obsession (I’m often known as The Duster Lady!), fundamentally I’m interested in the language of cloth objects and the role of embroidery as a creative research method. There is something powerful that happens when the method (embroidery) references the context (women working) upon a cloth that represents the same (women and domesticity). The possibilities for future work on this theme appear endless.

Image courtesy of Vanessa Marr
The Knitting & Stitching Show is on from 5-8 October 2023. Find out more:
www.theknittingandstitchingshow.com
@theknittingandstitchingshows
Book your tickets HERE.
Find out more:
www.domesticdusters.wordpress.com