Book launch “(Un-) Stitching Gazes: Spinning, Embroidering, and Mending Reconciliation in Colombia” with Dr. Christine Andrä

On December 2, Dr. Christine Andrä was a guest at the digital launch of the book "(Un-) Stitching Gazes: Spinning, Embroidering, and Mending Reconciliation in Colombia" at the Department of International Politics at Aberystwyth University.

The research, led by Prof. Dr. Beatriz Arias López, Laura Coral Velásquez (both Universidad de Antioquia, Colombia) and Prof. Dr. Berit Bliesemann de Guevara (Aberystwyth University), brings together biographical stories of former fighters of the Colombian rebel group FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia - Ejército del Pueblo), who are currently in a process of transition to civilian life, as well as their family members and new neighbors. With needle and thread, they tell of a country that is largely unknown to many Colombians in urban centers like Bogotá and Medellín. "(Un-) Stitching Gazes" shows textile narratives that understand peace not as a distant utopia, but as an everyday and practical process.

Together with Prof. Dr. Berit Bliesemann de Guevara, Dr. Christine Andrä presented the research project “(Un-) Stitching the Subjects of Colombia’s Reconciliation Process” funded by the British AHRC/Newton Fund and the Colombian research funding organization Colciencias, which produced the textile narratives that "(Un-) Stitching Gazes" now makes accessible to an international audience. Commenting on the book and the project were Dr. Raquel da Silva (Iscte, University Institute of Lisbon) and Dr. Roxani Krystalli (University of St Andrews). A video message from Hector Piedrahíta, one of the project participants whose narrative "Tu risa me have libre/Your laughter sets me free" is also reproduced in the book, completed the event.

An electronic version of the book "(Un-) Stitching Gazes: Spinning, Embroidering, and Mending Reconciliation in Colombia," published by Periferia, Colombia, can be ordered for free at: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=Dgl71Fo_oEyE0J-J0mnxddBl2hiJKwlPmDD9Ru1e5PNUNU1BTjJXNlNHRDUwQ1RWVTlRRFdWQldOQi4u