Summoning up the Ghost with Needle and Thread

Abstract

This project is about an active engagement with thread. Threading fragments of a colonial story together, through intra-action with the material world, we created an arpillera (Chilean tapestry) to speak with our ghosts. In New Zealand we are described as Pākehā, descendants of European colonial ancestors. Involved in critical family history, our data compromised of old photos, maps, letters, diaries and landmarks that remain. We propose that arts-based methods provide the potential to speak with the ghost, to engage with archival data and embody the experience. Threaded through the paper are poetic responses, stories generated and the arpillera.