Embroidery Workshops Respond to Contemporary Immigration Narratives

In July and August, artist Cinthya Santos-Briones hosted a series of embroidery workshops at Baxter St. at the Camera Club of New York, in partnership with Magnum Foundation, as part of her solo exhibition Living in Sanctuary. Participants embroidered phrases drawn from news reports, headlines, and press archives related to the current anti-immigrant political climate. Through the slow, shared practice of embroidery, words designed for immediate media consumption were transformed into a space for dialogue, critical reflection, and collective witness.

The workshops were co-facilitated by María José Prudente, a Mixtec Indigenous embroiderer, language rights advocate, attorney, and interpreter in immigration courts. The workshops were inspired by Chilean arpilleras, Mexico’s Bordados por la Paz collectives, and other Latin American practices that have used textiles to denounce state violence and forced disappearances

See photos from the workshops below.