Drones Quilt Project

Example of a drone quilt. Example of a drone quilt.

The Drones Quilt Project is a USA-based quilting programme and an example of the deliberate political use of textiles and decorative needlework in particular. It began in 2013 and was started by Leah Boger, a former USA Naval officer and anti-war activist.

According to Boger, one of the aims of the project was to stress the inhuman nature of drone attacks: “Drones are remotely detonated weapons. They reduce human beings to dots on a screen, tiny blobs of light in the control room of an army base. The quilt restores humanity to those killed or maimed and reminds people that for every single victim of a drone there was a real person with loves, desires and a life.”

In order to bring attention to the nature of drones, a series of quilts are being made. Each quilt is made up of thirty-six blocks, each of which is 10 x 10 inch (c. 25 x 25 cm) in size. The blocks are usually made of cotton or non-stretch fabric. The blocks are made by volunteers and each block is embellished with the name of a victim of an USA drone attack. A variety of techniques, notably applied, embroidered and painted, are used.

By June 2014, nine quilts had been made and more were being produced. Four quilts, plus information handouts and panels, had been on display for the first time at a Veterans For Peace convention in Madison, Wisconsin (USA) in August 2013. One of the Drone quilts was on display at the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom convention at The Hague (the Netherlands), from 27-29 April, 2015.

Digital source (retrieved 17 April 2016)

Digital illustration source (retrieved 17 April 2016)

SA

Last modified on Thursday, 27 April 2017 18:28