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than 300 people from all over the world contributed squares to the Middle
East Peace Quilt, an international community art project and now a traveling
exhibit, on display in Berea College’s Hutchins Library through
Nov. 5.
The exhibit is sponsored by the Berea College International Center
and is part of the Center’s “Focus on the Middle East” events.
Thirty quilted panels, each about three feet square, depict the visions
of Middle East peace and a shared future by men and women of all ages
and backgrounds, including Jews and Palestinians. Each of the panels
is displayed with its binder containing the names and personal statements
of each quilt square maker, who range from professional artists to
school children.
The project’s creator is Sima Elizabeth Shefin, a Jewish fabric
artist in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Shefrin first put out a call for squares
in 1998, with a response she calls “extensive and wonderful in
both their thoughtfulness and their creativity.” Shefrin says
she views the Quilt “as a place where people who will never meet
can listen to one another.”
On November 3, Shefrin will be on campus for two programs. As part
of the “Peanut Butter and Gender Series” beginning at noon
in the Women’s Studies Center, 2nd floor of Phelps Stokes, she
will present “Stitching for Social Change,” a discussion
of the social history of quilting as a route to world peace, including
the Middle East Peace Quilt. A lecture at 5 p.m. in Baird Lounge (Alumni
Building) will be on "Places of Hope; Israelis and Palestinians
working together for peace."
Admission is free to both events.
For more information, contact Alison Garfinkle, international education
coordinator, at (859) 985-3451, or Barbara Lakes, Women's Studies Department,
at (859) 985-3217.
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