Stitching artists into history

History belongs to those whose stories are told. The women artists who’ve become ‘historic’ are the ones someone has written about. So let us write. What it is that inspires us when we contemplate the lives and works of women artists? What is it in the stories of women that is so captivating, and how can we open new ways of seeing and being in the world through contemplating them? Let’s open a dialogue across time, stretching back into the past and outward into the present, and embody with voice and presence the Women’s Gaze onto the world and what it can illuminate. Stitching Artists Into History made this call to writers, curated by ‘SOTTO al British’, the British Institute of Florence’s brand new space for contemporary creativity, as a part of the Oltrarno Gaze Festival.

Performance artist and writer Marisa Garreffa wants you to build the future art canon together with her – through stories, poems, reflections and sketches inspired by the women artists we admire, past and present. These submissions, collected in 2022, were stitched into a sculpture that became a wearable form, to clothe ourselves in the legacy of women. They also formed the basis of a spoken word performance by Marisa Garreffa, presented over two performances at Il Palmerino, Florence, on May 5th and June 5th, for the opening and closing night of the ‘Bridges’ book art exhibition at Il Palmerino, Florence. A selection of pieces was also published in the Oltrarno Gaze 2022 catalogue (The Florentine Press).

All submissions are kept as an archive by the artist, and will be revisited in future performances and research into women artists.