Freedom Quilt Hungary Book Release
February 22, 2020
Gallery One
  • Book Release
    Saturday February 22, 2020 / 3—5PM

Exhibition Text

(PDF)

Please join the gallery from 3-5pm on Saturday, February 22nd in hosting the first in a series of international presentations of the Freedom Quilt Hungary; a collective quilt made in Hungary by over 250 people from all geographical regions and ages. The second risograph printed book edition of 100 will be released and 50 copies will be available for sale during the event. Designed by Ryan Ingebritson and printed by RisoPrint Budapest, this publication doubles as an exhibition catalog and instruction manual for creating selections of blocks by twelve of the artists that contributed to the Freedom Quilt in 2019. In addition, you can find an essay by project facilitator Christalena Hughmanick. Hughmanick will be in attendance and will introduce the project. Refreshments will be served.

About the Project

The Freedom Quilt is a collective project designed to unite community members across Hungary around the topic of free speech and democracy through a series of public events. In honor of the 30th anniversary of the Socialist regime change and the formation of the Hungarian Patchwork Guild in 1989, artist and quilt scholar Christalena Hughmanick traveled to the US Embassy American Corners locations to give workshops about American Patchwork quilting traditions and their connections to cultural diversity, creative expression and storytelling. Basic sewing and appliqué skills were provided for participants to design and create a quilt block based on the prompt what does freedom mean to you?. At the end of the three month project, the labor intensive process of constructing the blocks and finishing them into a quilt took place in August 2019 by Christalena and members of the Hungarian Patchwork Guild during a quilting bee at the Skanzen Szabadtéri Néprajzi Múzeum in August, 2019. The overall objective of this project is to foster an environment for cross-cultural exchange between Hungary and the United States through their shared craft histories.