Some of you (mainly our North American friends) will already know what I am going to write about, and/or have been lucky enough to have seen it.
I came across an article about this project (and the book) about 3 - 4 years ago, but to buy the book at that time I would had to order it directly from Canada or USA, at a large expense. But earlier this year I was lucky enough to find a second-hand copy here in UK.
The project was a brain child of Canadian artist Esther Bryan, and the story starts with a story of her father, Jan, who left his native Slovakia at the end of WWII, before Communism took over. He lived in many placed after that; in France he met his American wife and that was where Esther was born. The family eventually settled in Canada. His family knew very little of his past, he never talked about it. But after the fall of The Wall in 1989 he decided to re- visit his original journey to Canada and the "old country", and Esther went with him.
That was when Esther discovered what was also a part of her heritage; her father's brother and his family, still living in the same village.
Some 2 years after their trip, she staged a one-woman exhibition called "Return", using her sketches, photographs, textiles, crafts - all those things she brought back from her trip.
She was stunned by the response. She met many people who too wanted to tell their story of emigration, and eventually that was how the idea of a project, which would include them all, was born.
A huge undertaking - from a table top idea to hundreds of volunteers, donations, grants - the vision was to have representation from every country of the world included in Canadian cultural mosaic.
The search to locate people from each nation (and making of the quilt) took 6 years, which included extensive research of Canada's immigration records. These revealed that at least one person from every country of the world was in Canada. There were thousands of phone calls, newspaper and magazine articles to locate various groups - this is just an incredible story!
So why a quilt? Fabrics is something which connects us all. In his Foreword to the book, the President of the Hudson's Bay Company talks about blankets which were their earliest trade products, and like a blanket, a quilt can bring comfort, warmth and sense of belonging.
Quote from the book's sleeve: "For this landmark project, each group was invited to produce a handmade block featuring textiles and symbols that represent its unique contribution to the Canadian fabric. A small sampling of the media employed by the artists includes abalone shells, amber from Lithuania, bobbin lace, a brooch from Poland, smoked caribou hide, English wool, porcupine quills.......
Grand in size and purpose, the finished quilt measures 36 metres long by 3.5 metres high, with 263 squares representing 71 Aboriginal groups and 192 immigrant nationalities found in Canada.
"Our vision was to create a collaborative work of art that will recognize Canada's and the world's diversity, celebrate our common humanity, and promote harmony and compassion among people".
Each quilt block is set into a hexagon block, the same shape as the elemental pieces that form every living organism - carbon molecules.
Every page in the book represent a story of a block and/or of people who created it, and
I feel touched every time I open the book and discover another story, there are so many of them.
The incredible journey of this project is recorded by Esther Bryant in her introduction "The Birth of a Dream" at the start of the book.
I want to share with you just few blocks.
You can read lots more about this project (and about Esther Bryan) on its official website, where you can also find all the blocks (and a profile of each country):