This is Part 1 of a three-episode documentary special tracing seven centuries of the same fight: who owns the cloth? Co-creator Shawn Dearn narrates the history while actors read from primary sources, including Lord Byron's furious defence of the Luddites, Charity Clarke's 1769 letter about "a fighting army of amazones, armed with spinning wheels," and Queen Liliuokalani's memoir from inside her occupied palace.
From medieval Flanders to the Jacquard loom's punch cards to a deposed Hawaiian queen stitching the dates of her overthrow into a quilt.
Featuring: Zak Foster, Stephen Towns, Sara Trail, AJ Young, Carrie Reichardt, Gavin Mueller, Jathan Sadowski, Grace Rother, and Mary Burgess. With readings by Nancy O'Fallon, David McNeill, Nathan Ashcroft, Lauree Ashcom, Nancy Adams, and Barrie Kealoha.
Art Against Empire is edited by Shawn Dearn and produced by Secret Agents. Visit ArtAgainstEmpire.net for photos, episode notes, and resources. Our hands know how to build the world we want.
