Introduction

Bedford Gallery is honored to present Forced to Flee, a traveling exhibition of 36 highly personal art quilts that explore the stories and journeys of those who have been driven from their homes due to war, oppression, natural disasters, and atrocious human rights violations.

Juried by Dr. Susan Beryl Marks, a quilt art historian and Associate Fellow at the International Quilt Study Center, Forced to Flee was organized by Studio Art Quilt Associates, Inc. (SAQA).

About

The artists featured in this exhibition consider the plight of the displaced from many points of view and use a range of methods – including raw edge appliqué, burning, mark making, and photo and screen-printing – to tell powerful stories. Others stitch and appliqué words and messages directly onto the quilts. These bold techniques also remind the viewer that quilts are much more than a domestic or practical craft. Here, they carry heavy imagery, messages and, in certain instances, incorporate dense materials to convey the magnitude of our global refugee crisis.

“These are not pretty pieces,” Marks says. “The contrast between the sense of physical comfort normally associated with textiles is at odds with the harsh imagery, creating visual tension.”

Artwork Credit: Catherine A. Drummond, Displaced, 2018, quilt, 26.5 x 31 inches.

In addition to Forced to Flee, Bedford Gallery presents two works in a solo installation by Boston-based artist Yu-Wen Wu, Leavings/Belongings and Tell Me, that amplify the immigrant experience through storytelling.

In Leavings/Belongings, bundles made by the artist and U.S. immigrants inhabit the gallery's ArtSite space. These bundles of imagined possessions wrapped in globally culled fabric represent all that is left behind and hopes and dreams for a new life.
 
Featured in the gallery's alcove, Tell Me is a single-channel video that includes voice overs from participants in Leavings/Belongings, who tell their stories, often in their native language. By intertwining these narratives with abstract imagery and music composed by Beau Kenyon, Wu presents both literal and abstract elements to emphasize the complexity of the migration experience.

Artwork Credit: Yu-Wen Wu, Leavings/Belongings, ongoing, mixed media, dimensions variable.