Menindee Memorial Loop as part of Sydney Craft Week

As part of Sydney Craft Week artist Julie Paterson is inviting anyone and everyone to collaborate with her in making an artwork in memory of the mass fish kills on the Baaka-Darling River.

The artwork, called the Menindee Memorial Loop, is a long loop of fabric covered in thousands of tiny hand-stitched crosses. These stitched crosses represent the millions of fish killed due to too much water taken from the river system, under a mismanaged Murray Darling Basin Authority that puts Big Agriculture before people and the environment.

Image: Julie Paterson, Menindee, landscape.

Paterson conceived of the collaborative project as a way to build community around shared feelings about the River. Slow-stitching to make this artwork is partly a ritual to process grief. Mindfully stitching each cross allows participants to mourn the devastation already inflicted on the river.

Equally, this artwork is about creating hope. Participating in this project is a way to call for the recovery and protection of the river ecosystems and their biodiversity, and express support for communities and First Nations custodians on Country.

These thousands and thousands of tiny crosses, stitched by many hands around the world, serve as a metaphor for how people can come together to create change.

‘I’m having to tell people with really strong stitching skills to put them aside,’ says Paterson. ‘I want the stitches to be kind of basic - a bit wonky even - because the project derives so much of its meaning from the notion of visible mending.’

Want to read more of this article?
We are proud to be a ​subscriber-funded publication with members in 185 countries. We know our readership is passionate about textiles, so we invite you to help us preserve and promote the stories, memories, and histories that fabric holds. Your support allows us to publish our magazine, and also ‘what's on’ information, and subscription interviews, reviews, and ​long-read articles in our online blog. 

ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER? CLICK HERE TO ACCESS CONTENT

OR...to continue reading….


*Magazine subscribers automatically get free access to all our online content. We send the access code by email with the publication of each issue. You will also find it on the envelope containing your magazine. Please note the access code changes every issue.*