Güneş Terkol

Home Is My Heart, 2017, Stitching on fabric, 200 × 300 cm

Over the course of seven years, I conducted seven workshops with different groups of women in various geographical locations. The resulting banners demonstrate how a collective work can emerge through a shared process of reflection while preserving individual narratives. Through the participants’ expressions, each banner visualises a distinct sociological and economic structure, as well as the oppressive social conditions in which the women live.

My Home Is My Heart resulted from a banner-making workshop I conducted in London in May 2017 as part of Art Night London, curated by Fatoş Üstek. The banner features both the moon and the sun, London Bridge, and anonymous figures looking out from the windows of the city’s characteristic brick buildings. Each participant selected and gave voice to one of the figures on the banner, embroidering the visible speech bubbles with their own dreams and imaginings. We spent a month working with participants from diverse backgrounds, including both long-term London residents and people who had moved to the city from other countries. We reflected on and produced sketches addressing Brexit, urban transformation, changing economic conditions, and the city’s shortcomings and needs. In this way, we created a banner that brought all of these ideas together. The image we produced was also transformed into a permanent mural in a public space in London. On the opening night, we carried the banner in a procession through the streets of East London, accompanied by the “Bird Band.”