Paper short abstract:

This contribution will consider how a group of adults with learning disabilities in north-east London have worked together for a number of years on shared projects in which individual, singular stitches of embroidery, however unruly, are joyfully encouraged and inherently valued.

Paper long abstract:

In the act of hand sewing, a threaded needle pierces the cloth, up from underneath or down from above. Although the pinpointing of the place for the needle to emerge from the out-of-sight underneath can be challenging, especially if there are patterns or rules to be followed, the awkward spaces between visible stitches are rich with unacknowledged connotation. Between optic precision and haptic fumbling, the space/place between certainty and uncertainty is complex and conditional, particularly in situations of shared, community-driven practice.

This contribution will consider how a group of adults with learning disabilities in north-east London have worked together for a number of years on shared projects in which individual, singular stitches of embroidery, however unruly, are joyfully encouraged and inherently valued. The group, which has been active for several years, builds strength through community and trust as well as through subduing the challenges that can occur in effecting a single stitch, let alone in embroidering a flower or animal. What emerges is the conclusion that each person's stitch-action denotes a singular, creative voice at the communal table. Erin Massumi's 'minor gesture', Donna Harraway's 'staying with the trouble', Emma Cocker's 'tactics for not knowing' and Tim Ingold's 'correspondence' may each serve as critical support, but above all the notion that meaning is most alive in the hidden space between the visible stitches will be evident, echoing the notion (Barthes, Merleau-Ponty et al) that meaning is most potent in the space between words rather than in the words themselves.