Friends, colleagues and guests,
This event has been postponed due to COVID-19. We aim to reschedule this even for as soon as we safely can, ideally sometime in the autumn.
In the spirit of creativity and sustainable spring cleaning, Edinburgh Napier Queer Arts Collective (ENQAC) and Edinburgh Napier University Sustainability Network would like you to join us to explore visible mending, bringing new life and celebrating our journeys with our well loved clothes so they can be spared the scrap bin or the landfill.
Please forward this invite to anyone who may be interested. No experience with textiles is necessary. This event is open to the public, so we would love to have members of the wider LGBT+ Community, including allies, come to join us. This event is child friendly, so feel free to bring yours along if you think they will enjoy it! Young people, if you wish to attend, you are welcome but we will require you to bring a supportive adult.
Visible mending is based on the Japanese art of sashiko, in which weak or damaged areas of clothing are reinforced with added decoration. This can be used to celebrate the journeys and experiences that our belongings have had, whether clothing, socks, bags & cases, bedding or other textiles, and allow them to continue to be part of our lives.
Please join us on [postponed. New date TBC] from 18:30 until 20:30
Edinburgh Napier University Sustainability Network will be holding a clothing swapshop a couple of weeks before this event, and will encourage people to donate items which are a bit too worn for donation to charity shops, which we can either mend or use as materials to contribute to mending other items, with simple, yet beautiful stitching.
You are welcome to bring along any clothing of your own which is similarly damaged and you can't bear to throw away or any fabrics you would like to be included in mending items. While none of us are experts, we intend to play around and see what we can learn, using simple methods to add personal value to our belongings. If there's anything you have which doesn't fit you anymore/currently and you don't want to throw away but are happy to swap, bring that along too!
If you have it, please bring your own equipment such as scissors, pins, thread, needles, tape measure. There will be some available on the day.
Accessibility:
Microphones will not be used at this event, as discussion will be more casual and group based rather than any formal presentation. If you’d like to contribute at any point and are struggling to find an opportunity to speak, pop your hand up and we’ll make sure you get to make your point.
All floors of Merchiston campus are accessible by lift a quick lift. Unfortunately, the accessible, gender neutral bathrooms are at the ground floor, but these can be reached by the same lift. The room will be laid out to allow for wheelchairs and people with guide dogs to navigate easily.
Assistance dogs are welcome. Please let us know if you have any allergies to fur, or will be attending with a dog so we can advise anyone with allergies ahead of time.
This event is child friendly, so feel free to bring your young ones along, under your own supervision, if this is something they will enjoy taking part in. If you are a child or teenager who would like to attend, please bring a supportive adult with you.
You are welcome to come and go as you please between our start time of 18:30 and end time of 20:30. Please make yourself comfortable. Doors require staff/student access to let you in after half past 6, so if you expect to arrive after this time and can let us know in advance (by emailing a.satur@napier.ac.uk) that would be great.
Feel free to stim, tic or do what you need to be comfortable and well. Just try to be conscious of people around you using pointy things!
Travel:
Merchiston campus is served from the centre of town by Lothian Buses services 11 and 16 which are roughly every 5 minutes, and from Sighthill and Craiglockhart campuses by Lothian Bus service 36 which is roughly every 20 minutes. These buses all stop at Holy Corner, allowing for travel along the flat for the remaining 5 minute walk to Merchiston campus. Upon leaving, the same services stop at Holy Corner again, still roughly every 5 minutes.
To reach room F14, enter the main entrance of Merchiston Campus. There is a ramp. Turn right and walk straight along the corridor to the lift. Take the lift to floor F. Come out of the lift and turn left and left again. Go straight along the corridor and room numbers will be marked by a room number plaque outside the door. F14
This is a dry event, so please attend sober and do not take alcohol or drugs while here. You are welcome to bring soft drinks and snacks, whether for yourself or to share.
If there is anything we can do to help you to attend more comfortably, please don’t hesitate to get in touch by emailing a.satur@napier.ac.uk. Additionally, if there are any issues which you see with this event, or you have any suggestions to make this event more beneficial to people, please let us know. We hope we can work together to make this event fun and valuable for the people who need it.
We look forward to seeing you!
Edinburgh Napier Queer Arts Collective (ENQAC).
Edinburgh Napier Queer Arts Collective (ENQAC) is a Queer-prioritising, intersectional and safe space for people of various identities to create, collaborate, discuss and promote arts which represent them and other diverse identities. This includes people who identify as part of LGBTQIAA+, neurodiverse, minority ethnic and disabled communities.
ENQAC is a democratic group to be steered by the Queer arts community, whether they are students/staff of Edinburgh Napier University or members of the general public, so that the needs of the Queer arts community are better served.
ENQAC will hold gatherings and events to create opportunities to discuss, appreciate/critique, create and network.
All art presented within ENQAC is the property of its creators.