logo
episode-header-image
Aug 2020
50m 52s

Stitching souls

Bbc World Service
About this episode

The women of Gee’s Bend have held on to their creative traditions, passed down from mother to daughter: spine-tingling gospel singing, and a unique style of bold, improvised quilting. Made from old clothes out of necessity for generations, used for insulation and burned to keep off mosquitoes, the quilts brought Gee’s Bend fame after they were “discovered” by an art collector in the 1990s and shown in major museums in Houston and New York. Maria Margaronis hears the voices of this small community.

Up next
Today
Older women and the challenge of IVF
Over the past five decades, it is estimated that around 13 million babies have been conceived thanks to IVF. The fertility treatment has helped families around the world have children. But new research suggests that older women face a significantly lower chance of conceiving, eve ... Show More
23m 10s
May 2
Mapping Epstein's global connections
The personal correspondence, photographs and papers of the late convicted sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein have been released to the public in stages, beginning in December 2025, after an almost unanimous vote in the US Senate. The released files run to three and a half ... Show More
26m 29s
Apr 25
Inside the Mugabe dynasty
Late Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe died in 2019, but in the years before and since his death, his three children with his former wife, Grace, consistenly made headlines for all the wrong reasons. In April 2026 Bellarmine Mugabe pled guilty to a firearms offence in South Afri ... Show More
26m 29s
Recommended Episodes
Feb 2022
The Fabric of Life: An Interview with Gee's Bend Quiltmaker Loretta Pettway Bennett
Today, we are joined by quiltmaker artist Loretta Pettway Bennett, who carries on the multi-generational quiltmaking tradition of her family and home community of Gee's Bend, Alabama. Loretta's work: https://www.soulsgrowndeep.org/artist/loretta-pettway-bennett https://www.gregku ... Show More
38m 35s
Jul 2024
Blankets and Quilts: Threads of Identity
What happens when our most intimate possessions end up in art museums? Blankets comfort and keep us warm. They accompany us through our lives. They are keepers of some of our most intimate stories. We look at a group of artists who harness this power of blankets and quilts as tot ... Show More
40m 37s
Dec 2017
Inspiration
Stained glass, friends who listen, late-in-life-love, and mother-daughter closeness 
14m 7s
Aug 2020
Making Cloth to Build Community
Joshua Leo and Liz Waid look at a group of Peruvian women - weavers who make cloth. They are using their skills to make their lives better. https://spotlightenglish.com/uncategorized/making-cloth-to-build-community/ Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/spotlightenglish ... Show More
15m 1s
Dec 2021
Tattooed Ladies
During an era in which a woman showing her ankle was seen as transgressive, a group of radical women broke societal norms by using their bodies as canvases for their art, re-popularizing the ancient tradition of tattoo. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoic ... Show More
1h 8m
Jul 2020
Episode 153: Queer and Trans Sewing
<p>We hear from queer and trans community members about their experiences sewing clothing that affirms their gender and finding patterns that fit. We share listener stories of how sewing can have both a positive and negative impact on one's gender expression and also discuss ways ... Show More
46m 21s
Aug 2023
Conservators: Preserving the past for the future
<p>Kim Chakanetsa meets two women looking after remarkable historical objects and artworks. Kristiane Strætkvern is a Norwegian conservator with the National Museum of Denmark. She’s specialised in the preservation of waterlogged archaeological wooden objects and has worked on ... Show More
27m 21s
May 2023
The timeless, ancient language of art | Wangechi Mutu
Using found materials and mesmerizing structures that unearth deep-rooted emotions, Wangechi Mutu's visual creations explore and celebrate women's role in our collective history. From ancient rock carvings in the Sahel to her own chimeric abstractions, she shares her journey of s ... Show More
23m 27s
Dec 2021
'All That She Carried' weaves together generations of Black women
All That She Carried is the history of a single bag. Historian and author Tiya Miles used what few historical records she could find to tell the stories of three generations of Black women with ties to that sack dating back to 1850. Miles' journey started because of a simple mess ... Show More
11m 2s