Culture And Memory

Threads of Belonging

Joy Free Job Training CIC has developed Threads of Belonging to further instill a sense of community pride, skills, and inclusion in St Helens by recognizing Yoruba textiles and style as a living heritage in St Helens. Through community-based collection days and intergenerational workshops, the stories, meanings, and skills pertaining to A??-Òkè, Adire, Gèlè, and A??-?bí that inform our journey will be recorded, and are respectfully retained and shared. This will equip people with the requisite skills, empowering volunteers and participants for success and transferable employability skills, in documentation, creative storytelling, and heritage interpretation. The project will generate a public pop-up exhibition along with accessible digital resources for a wider audience to learn, connect, and appreciate the collection. In the end, we desire to increase the dialogue with heritage and create a legacy of skills, connections, and cultural knowledge.