The Patchwork of Belonging
an exploration into the ways we find belonging and connection to land, place and food
The Patchwork of Belonging is a collaborative, nomadic artwork which gathers stories and testimonies describing the ways we find belonging and connection to land, place and the food we grow and eat. The Patchwork making process inquires what it means to find new – and rediscover old – ways to belong and find connection. This project was conceived as one that can evolve through multiple iterations, documenting community experiences around the theme of belonging in relation to our environments, across different geographies.
How did the Patchwork of Belonging come into existence?
‘I wanted to create a collective piece of work that gives an opportunity to rewrite the dominant story of disconnection and loneliness. Instead of continually lamenting about what is broken in our society, what is lost, I wanted to patch together new stories of belonging and connection. How do we reimagine communities and societies that are built on belonging and connection? The practice of quilting and patchworking felt like the most appropriate means to create this body of work, given their rich history as a tool for political and cultural protest. It felt like the perfect medium to be a material manifestation of human relationship to land and identity. The idea was born back in the summer of 2022 and due to other commitments and life’s busyness, it was shelved. I shared the concept note with Lorén who loved the concept and ran with it. We decided to make it happen and it began in May 2024 in Morocco.’
– Nessie Reid
Series 1: Morocco/Wales exists as both a tangible patchwork quilt and a digital podcast, offering a collection of stories, songs, and experiences recorded in two distinct regions: South-West Wales and Western Morocco—territories where Lorén and Nessie currently live and work in and between.
Read more about The Patchwork of Belonging Series 1: Morocco/Wales
Read about The Patchwork of Belonging Series 2 at the Oxford Real Farming Conference
