The exhibition Women Pulling at The Threads of Social Discourse first opened in Miami, with just eight artists, in October of 2019. It was very much the brain-child of Melanie Prapopoulos and Aurora Molina, each of them with their particular goal; Aurora wanted to bring about an exhibition of different fiber artists she knew, and Melanie wanted to make a statement debunking social expectations of both women and threads. The result was a “quiet” exhibition; it was gritty, thematically, featuring more explicit critiques on capitalism and jabs at complacency, expectations, and a heavy focus on labor. Works boasted slogans against the male driven social order and rubbings of urban street drains; crocheted portraiture and fiber sculptures tackled military regimes that dehumanize the individual, and the passage of time. Thus began the journey that became WPATTOSD.
In Spring of 2020, amidst isolation, discomfort, and the uncertainty in dealing with a global pandemic, Aurora and two other Miami-based fiber artists, Evelyn Politzer and Alina Rodriguez Rojo, formed Fiber Artists Miami Association (FAMA). From the organization came the second edition of the exhibition series—what we now know as the Flag Show—featuring work by 40 artists. The Flag Show was rooted in the commemoration of the Centennial of the women’s vote of 1920. It honored our mothers, and grandmothers; the forgotten warriors of the struggle for the vote; the women of color and the indigenous women who broke barriers and ceilings just so that women would be able to have a voice in their own world. We opened the exhibition in October of the same year, coinciding with one of the tensest presidential election seasons in American memory and the passing of Ruth Bader Ginsberg on September 18, which we all knew would put Roe v. Wade in jeopardy regardless of who won. It was nonetheless a powerful example of how lived experiences inform our community in a contentious time, and how, ultimately, those are the two facets of life we should find refuge in when the world around us seems to be falling apart.
In 2022, Liz Leggett and Ruth Mannes from MoCA Westport invited CAMP and FAMA to re-install the original Flag Show in their space. Taking the show up the coast allowed it to take on a different tone; Melanie suggested digging into the exhibition’s function as a social experiment, and both she and Maria were interested in how visual languages and statements would differ between artists from Florida and Connecticut, New York, and Pennsylvania. The most obvious was that the Northeastern artists were unafraid, brazen, and confrontational, socially; the artists in the original show emphasized their identities, and their personal histories. It was during this install that it was announced Roe V. Wade would be overturned, less than a week before the museum opened the exhibition. All of us, in shock, carried on wondering how this new world could be so dark, and moreover, how it was possible that what Melanie’s generation had been granted access to was now denied to those of Maria’s.
The opportunity to present this exhibition in Milwaukee, its first foray into the Midwestern landscape, was an exciting one; the fact that the Jewish Museum of Milwaukee is headed by women much like CAMP, FAMA, and MoCA Westport has further validated the idea that we are responsible for taking care of and uplifting each other in our communities. With this in mind, this edition of the Flag Show is enriched by its home in JMM’s hands, and the community’s commitment to the values of remembrance, justice, honor, community, and learning align with this exhibition’s intention. The circumstances of our lives are unique to us, but should not preclude us from co-existing with empathy and understanding. This exhibition aims to create conversations, community, and change in a holistic and integrated way, like separate threads woven together in what will eventually become your favorite blanket, or like Molly Dubin and the rest of the team at the Jewish Museum of Milwaukee holding their hands out to welcome us into the fold. As complex and enigmatic as we may find those we don’t know on opposite or unfamiliar parts of our shared nation, it’s also interesting to note how a return to one of the oldest, and most enduring art practices, can successfully connect us across space and time. We’re realizing another hope for this exhibition, the hope being that it always travels, and accumulates new voices; that it not just be a beautiful and poignant exhibition, but also serves as a social experiment of the climate of Women’s Rights not just here in the United States, but across the globe.
Statement and Curation by Melanie Prapopoulos & Maria Gabriela Di Giammarco