Quilts and Human Rights

This quilt, The Holocaust, made by Natalia Merentseva of St. Petersburg, Russia in 1998, is part of the Quilts and Human Rights exhibit at the MSU Museum, This exhibit explores the role that quiltmakers have played in raising awareness of human rights issues around the world and the power of textiles to communicate important ideas and information. The quilts were inspiring and provocative, made to document and express transgressions of human rights, to educate others about human rights issues, and to pay tribute to leaders of human rights movements. One might try to focus on the design and workmanship of these pieces, like the interesting use of zippers on this quilt . . .



. . . but the messages embodied in these quilts are undeniable. I left the Museum with a physical reaction to these messages. Topics ranged from the global to the very personal. This quilt, After the Party, was made by Helen Pedersen and Janice Dowdeswell of Wanganui, New Zealand in 2007. It refers to Pedersen's own escape from domestic violence.


You can find the rest of my photos in the Flickr photo set Quilts & Human Rights.