Rooting #1: Weaving – „Earth to water to web”

“earth to water to web
mother to daughter to landscape
womb to seed to root
dust to tears to hope”

– by Ava Binta Giallo

In the first rooting session “Waeving ‘Earth to water to web’” we approach weaving as an artistic, political and feminist practice. Beyond the craft act, weaving becomes a method of healing and resistance. We use multimedia to connect with nature and bodies and thus test an act of collective care.

The artist Paulina Trejo Méndez uses weaving as a feminist, political practice: for her, weaving is a form of connection that brings people together without blurring differences. Beyond the traditional craft, weaving can dissolve hierarchies because we have to constantly react to each other - stitch by stitch, word by word, life by life. The weaving process opens a space for shared growth and helps us to break free from rigid patterns of thinking. Instead of separation and categorization, the focus is on connectedness - a movement that emphasizes life in all its facets.
The workshop “Weaving Roots. A life affirming collective tapestry” is inspired by the work of Colectiva Hilos, a feminist collective from Mexico. The collective began knitting in protest against feminicides and the disappearance of people in public spaces. Against the fragmentation caused by violence, weaving functions as an act of togetherness. At Habibi Kiosk, we invite you to come together to strengthen our relationships, share the threads of our stories and recognize the connections between them.

Only when we understand the ground we inhabit can we ground ourselves. Therefore, in the workshop “Mapping the body-territory” by Paulina Trejo Méndez, we want to remind ourselves that everything that concerns the land, the territories to which we belong, also concerns our bodies.
Mapping the body-territory is an indigenous, feminist method that emphasizes the connection of our bodies to their environment - and not only understands our natural environment as a resource. This allows us to understand how our daily experiences and our bodies are shaped by the places we inhabit, the streets we walk, the parks and the institutions we belong to.