In the Words of Damla Sandal: “With each stitch, we discover gender norms in old photos, weaving memory through art"

Damla Sandal is an artist who uses embroidery to explore gender equality and collective memory. Inspired by her involvement with the Karakutu Association, she founded the “Embroidering Memory” workshops, where art and storytelling merge to discover gender norms and spark conversations on gender equality. Recently, Sandal collaborated with UN Women to organize workshops where participants discussed how gender norms influence our lives and shaped memories by embroidering old photos.

“My name is Damla Sandal, and I transform my passion for urban memory, gender equality, and collective memory into various forms of creative expression. These creations are a way of expressing myself, and for some time now, I’ve been doing this through embroidery. The embroidered photographs are part of this journey.

I was born in Izmir, and my academic journey led me to Istanbul. My arrival in Istanbul was fueled by curiosity. It’s a city full of charm—its cultural heritage, people, and places are captivating. I explored neighborhoods by allowing myself to get lost in the streets. The more I wandered, the more I realized that this discovery never ends.

My path crossed with the Karakutu (Blackbox) Association, and my perspective on the city transformed. Karakutu is a civil society organization that organizes memory walks. It helps young people discover the city through peer-to-peer education methods. During these walks, we share stories about human rights and gender equality.

My experiences with Karakutu’s city walks and storytelling shaped my work on urban and collective memory from the perspective of a ‘storyteller.’ I use art as a means to confront the past, raise awareness of human rights violations, discrimination, and gender-based inequalities. Because awareness of the past can serve as a starting point to prevent similar violations in the future.

The workshop became a means of making my relationship with embroidery and memory a collective experience. I led the first ‘Embroidering Memory’ workshop using the archives of painter Eleonora Arhelaou at a museum in Istanbul. Arhelaou’s archive includes more than 5,000 photographs. As we explored her collection, Eleonora took us back to the streets she had wandered, to the years when she captured these photos, tracing her cultural roots. For the first workshop, I selected about 30 photographs from this archive. And so, the journey of the ‘Embroidering Memory’ workshop began, with the streets and people photographed by a woman who had created for both the city’s and her own memory."

"We organized three workshops with UN Women with the participation of activists, youth, and people from different backgrounds. Reflecting on gender, we talked about the inequalities we encounter in our lives and stories of solidarity. The participants share their own stories and memories with others through the old photographs they choose. This embroidery journey allows each person to have a unique experience, challenge societal norms, and connect with the present. Different emotions guide each workshop. Joy was the emotion that dominated our embroideries at the workshop we held at UN Women’s ‘We are Many and One’ event.

Gender inequality is an issue rooted in everyday life. In the workshop, we have the opportunity to discuss equality and inequality through the gender identities, sexual orientations, and experiences of discrimination of the people in the photos or those who took them.

The ‘Embroidering Memory’ workshops, which have been ongoing for two years, are shaped by the participants. By listening to their voices, I shared their desire to bring their own photos and tell their own stories. This has allowed us to delve even deeper.

In the stories we bring to the workshop, the stitches we embroider, the faces we preserve, or the flowers we place, we discover our paradoxes regarding gender equality and gender norms in old photos. And we do all of this slowly, delicately, with great care. This, I believe, is the surprising power of art.”

Damla Sandal is a member of Karakutu Association that received a small grant under the "Strong Civic Space for Gender Equality" project, implemented by UN Women and funded by the European Union. She is also organizing ‘Embroidery Workshops’ in partnership with UN Women.