Fellow launches new ‘sewcial’ group

Members of the College community are invited to join a new craft ‘sewcial’ group launched by Dr Sura Qadiri (2018), Fellow and Director of Studies for Modern and Medieval Languages.

Dr Qadiri explains, “The aim of the group is to bring together people who enjoy crafts, either to work on projects of their own or projects that we have provided, and to offer students further opportunity to interact with people outside of their households and disciplines. The talks enable us to explore communities and cultures around the world – all from the comfort of our own homes – and might even provide inspiration for new craft projects.”

The group’s next speaker will be Gigi Matthews, who is a spinner and weaver from Brooklyn, New York. From 2pm on 28 November, Gigi will lead a four-part demonstration, covering fleece, plants, spindle spinning, and wheel spinning. There will be plenty of opportunity for tea breaks and discussion in between each part of her talk.

On 5 December, anthropologist Susan S. Davis will talk about her research on women crafters in Morocco, as documented in ‘Women Artisans of Morocco: Their Stories, Their Lives’ (published by Thrums Books in 2018).

Mary Simuyandi, the College's Welfare Officer, commented, "Exploring and nurturing creativity has played such an important role in looking after individual and collective well being this year. It has been amazing to hear and see all of the creative endeavours various members of our community have been engaged in, especially since the start of the pandemic. I am very grateful to Sura for organising this brilliant opportunity for Catz members to come together and explore their collective interest in crafting and learn from such skilled guests."

Anyone interested in joining the group on Zoom for one or more of these sessions is welcome to get in touch with Dr Qadiri. Further information about community craft projects during Lent Term will be shared soon.