A Fi Poppy Show - Rose Sinclair

The Subversive Stitch revisited: The politics of cloth
Exploring the legacy of Rozsika Parker's groundbreaking book, The Subversive Stitch. Audio from conference presentation 29th-30th Nov 2013 at V&A museum London

‘A fi poppy show' is a Caribbean colloquialism for putting on a show or showing off. The exploration of Dorcas Club textiles networks in the UK, proffering an alternative textiles history of the Caribbean front roomThe Caribbean front room has become synonymous with the rhetoric of the past, stories of migration, family, self, the domain of the feminine, a decorated shrine. But another story exists where the textiles that decorate the front rooms reveal the textile practices that some Caribbean women carried out in their Dorcas Clubs. Unable to group together and sew in local church halls like their 18th- and 19th-century counterparts, they found refuge within the confines of the hallowed front room. The finery of the woman of the house was put on show; could she crochet, how high did the crochet stand, could she sew cushions, make antimacassars. Dorcas Clubs were places of production, sharing and making. In the Dorcas Clubs women met weekly to share making practices, commission textiles to decorate their homes, make for mission; sewing could do more than save souls. Dorcas Clubs became a showcase for the textile skills of the Caribbean female protagonist, who had journeyed to new lands. 'A fi Poppy Show' explores the politics of cloth and the textile process in the front room and its alternative histories and narratives of networks, embedded in migration and post-colonial identities.