THREADS OF UNITY QUILT – PROMOTING THE
ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN AND WORLD PEACE
By: Sean Sabet, Karen McConathy & Tina Manshadi
The world of humanity is possessed of two wings: the male
and the
female. So long as these two wings are not equivalent in strength, the
bird
will not fly. Until womankind reaches the same degree as man, until she
enjoys the same arena of activity, extraordinary attainment for humanity
will not be realized; humanity cannot wing its way to heights of real
attainment. When the two wings . . . become equivalent in strength,
enjoying the same prerogatives, the flight of man will be exceedingly
lofty and extraordinary.
As long as women are prevented from attaining their
highest possibility, so long will men be
unable to achieve the greatness which might be theirs.
- From the Bahá’í Faith Sacred Writings
The Threads
of Unity quilt is dedicated to the
oneness of humanity and the achievement of full
equality between men and women, which is one of the
most important, though less acknowledged
prerequisites to the establishment of world peace.
Inequality hinders not only
the advancement of women
but the progress of civilization itself. It promotes
destructive attitudes and habits in men and women
that pass from the family to the work place, to political
life, and, ultimately, to international relations. The
moral and psychological climate necessary to enable
the world to establish social justice and to contribute to
global peace will be created only when women attain full partnership with
men in all fields of endeavor.
T
he Bahá'í International Community (BIC) inconsultation with the United Nations Economic and
Social Council (ECOSOC) has worked officially with
the United Nations since 1970 to improve the status of
women throughout the world. In addition, the BIC has
established close, cooperative relationships with other
international non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
at the United Nations that seek to promote the
advancement of women.
Vickie Hu Poirier,
an eminent textile artist and a member of the Bahá’í community of Las
Cruces, New
Mexico, created the Threads of Unity quilt at the request of the BIC’s
Office for the Advancement of
Women for display at the Fourth World Conference for Women which took
place on September 1995 in
Beijing, China.
Bahá’í Women from 21
countries participated in the creation of the Threads of Unity quilt by
contributing
50 pieces of their handmade artwork for inclusion in the quilt utilizing
embroidery, antique and modern
lace, batik, appliqué, glass, beadwork, crocheting, dough art, weaving,
cross-stitch, piecework, ikat,
surface painted fabric, needlepoint and petit point. Ms. Poirier started
the work of piecing together the
quilt, which weighs approximately 18 Pounds, in June 1995 and completed it
by the end of August 1995.
Most notably among the
artists that participated in the
creation of this magnificent quilt, are Kathleen
Caffee
Dickinson, the distinguished 88-year old
fingerpainting
artist, who contributed a scarf which depicts a
night blooming Cereus she had painted in the 1950’s,
and Mae Long, a farmer from the mountains of
Thailand, who submitted an ikat weaving. Lorraine
Kahn of Navajo Land near Gallup, New Mexico sent a
hand-woven sash, and Helen Marlow of Manchester,
England crafted her piece entirely out of recycled newspaper. Terrie Weiss
overcame her remoteness in
eastern Russia by giving her handwork to a traveling youth group to
deliver it by mail from Canada, and
Maurine Edwards of Panama sent a cross-stitch version of an Arabic
calligraphy with reference to God.
The quilt portrays a cloudy
blue sky with fine gold
writing undulating throughout the azure. It depicts two
women with the task of creating a large quilt between
them. There is a radiant sun in the sky with an Arabic
calligraphy at its center with reference to God which
translates to, "O Glory of the All Glorious."
In the sky overlooking the quilt, there is a quilted
image of Maggie Jensen, an educator of children with
special needs, who died of breast cancer at age 35,
representing those women who have passed away,
but are still an important part of our lives.
Embroidered in the sky are quotations from the Bahá’í
Sacred Writings in six languages on the equality of
men and women, role of women in establishing world peace, and the oneness
of humanity.
Ms. Poirier’s
contributions to the artistic world and the
social and economic development of women are
enormous and include exhibits of her works at U.S.
State Capital Buildings and Senate Offices, and
countless venues across the United States and in
other countries. Currently, she has two quilts on
permanent exhibit in the Bahá’í Houses of Worship in
the United States and India, and the BIC offices at the
United Nations. In the past seven years, she has
worked on the development of an economic project for
low-income, rural women by training them in artistic
and entrepreneurial skills. As a result of this project,
the women are able to design and manufacture
wearable arts for sale to boutiques and individuals in order to earn an
income.
The Threads of Unity
quilt is currently on exhibit at
the Bahá'í Faith Plano Center located
at: 4200
Hedgcoxe Road, Plano, Texas, 75024 until February
19, 2004.