Stitch-In with Julie Paterson

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Two dates:
Saturday 26 September
Saturday 31 October

All sessions are identical, come to as many as you like, 12 - 1 pm in the Gallery

This is a call out to join Julie Paterson in collaboration on her Menindee Memorial Loop - one of the exhibits in the 24th Dobell Drawing Prize. This on-going project, that started life in 2024 at part of The River, Our Mother exhibition at The Embroiderers Guild in Sydney, is Julie's response to the shocking mass fish kills on the Baaka-Darling River that have happened multiple times over the past few years. Drawing the fish with needle and thread as small, stitched crosses is a creative, generative act, and a beautiful carrier of meaning, as each cross represents a fish that has died due to maladministration of the Murray-Darling River. As people stitch and secure the donated cotton scraps with crosses, they are mark-making - to mark the tragedy of the fish kills and mark their grief. Slow-stitching is also a simple act of repair, and a call to action to us all to care for the river systems that sustain life, ecosystems and communities. Once it is completed with 1 million slow-stitched crosses, it will be almost 100 metres long. The Loop structure will represent the cycle of care required for sustaining life and well-being. The river cares for us as we care for the river.

Since the project began, more than 600+ people from around Australia and across the world have participated. Primary school students, aged care residents, beginner stitchers,…