Collective Parenthood Manifesto
On March 2023 I facilitated Parenthood Manifesto workshop as part of group exhibition titled Clouds, Power and Ornament – Roving Central Asia. Together with participants we had a discussion on the unseen aspects of parenthood. Through the craft of manual and automatic tufting, and punch needle embroidery, textile enthusiasts learned new techniques while engaging in meaningful talk about our unique cultural experiences of parenting. We also talked about expectations from society, unpaid care and domestic work. As we crafted our collective piece, a manifesto collage, in a range of languages including Sindhi, Cantonese, Chinese, Kazakh, and English, we each shared the reasons why these particular words mattered to us. 



fong3sau2 for letting go
希望 for hope
‎عزت for respect
jalğızdıq for loneliness 
‎ھميشہ for perpetual
控制 for control
ekiqabat for pregnant (literal translate from Kazakh ‘double decker’)
share 
spending
money
eating 

It is clear from the words that no matter where you are from, mothers and fathers all over the world are the same in experiencing the challenges of parenthood. As participants waited for their turn to tuft on the big frame, they were introduced to the Kazakh patterns’ embroidery, which they took home as a souvenir of this session.