WOMEN PULLING AT THE THREADS OF SOCIAL DISCOURSE: THE TEXTILE PROJECT OF THE CAMP GALLERY

The Contemporary Art Modern Project Gallery (CAMP), founded and directed by Melanie Prapopoulos, distinguishes itself for an interdisciplinary curatorial approach that merges art consultancy with a strong focus on contemporary research, centering on emerging and mid-career artists working across a wide range of practices, from installation and painting to photography, sculpture, textiles, and video art. The gallery operates as a space where creativity and reality coexist, positioning art as both a personal and collective instrument of reflection.

It is within this framework that the project Women Pulling at the Threads of Social Discourse (WPATTOSD) was conceived, with the aim of restoring centrality to textile practice as an artistic language capable of translating and questioning the female experience within society. Historically confined to the sphere of the “feminine,” textiles are here reimagined as both an aesthetic and political device, able to bring to light perspectives excluded from dominant narratives and to transform them into tools of dialogue and community building. What began in 2019 as a celebratory event quickly evolved into an annual platform for intergenerational and intercultural exchange, giving rise to a community shaped through the collective participation of artists, curators, and audiences.

The inaugural edition, presented in Miami in collaboration with textile artist Aurora Molina, marked the beginning of a trajectory that, in the following years, intertwined with crucial historical moments: from the centennial of women’s suffrage in the United States, which inspired the creation of monumental collective flags, to the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the eve of the 2020 exhibition; from the global pandemic crisis that led to the realization of a monumental quilt in 2021, to the overturning of Roe v. Wade, coinciding with the 2022 at MoCA, CT edition. The collective work has found new forms through literary and theatrical references, such as Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own, reinterpreted in the immersive installation A Room of Our Own, or Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, which inspired This is Not a Doll’s House, resonating with contemporary reflections on the reduction and objectification of the female body. The exhibition has also expanded geographically, traveling to the Museum of Contemporary Art in Connecticut and the Jewish Museum of Milwaukee, extending its visual and dialogical language well beyond Miami.

With its sixth edition, inaugurated in October 2024, the project reached its largest scale, involving seventy-seven artists called to engage with references ranging from Aristophanes’ Lysistrata to its contemporary reimagining in Spike Lee’s Chi-Raq. The democratic nature of WPATTOSD, rooted in the site-specific production of textile works conceived for the exhibition, has allowed the creation of a professional and artistic network that transcends traditional exhibition models, involving to date 295 artists and producing over 450 works.

Each edition has been characterized by its ability to reframe textiles as a critical device: from early Marxist-inspired reflections on society as an alienating structure, to the use of flags as a metaphor of solidarity and resistance, to the recovery of practices historically associated with the feminine—such as sewing, knitting, patchwork, and embroidery—reinterpreted in a subversive key. The collective nature of quilts and installations has functioned as a political microcosm, reaffirming the centrality of collective and community dimensions in contemporary artistic production.

The project demonstrates how textile art, far from being relegated to a secondary register, is capable of articulating complex discourses on society and the role of women, placing aesthetic practices, civic engagement, and gender identity in productive tension. Through collaborations with institutions such as MoCA Connecticut and the Jewish Museum of Milwaukee, and thanks to continuous dialogue with both local and international communities, Women Pulling at the Threads of Social Discourse establishes itself as one of the most significant platforms in today’s cultural landscape, weaving together artistic research, political reflection, and the construction of new shared imaginaries.

From October 17 to December 20, 2025, the CAMP Gallery in North Miami will present the seventh edition of Women Pulling at the Threads of Social Discourse, this year entitled Don’t Be Absurd. The project takes root in a reflection that begins with the philosophy of Søren Aabye Kierkegaard, who more than a century ago laid the foundations of existentialism by urging society to transcend the horizon of individual concerns. It was, however, in the postwar period that Absurdism established itself as a critical category, articulating the profound sense of disorientation generated by a world marked by indifference to humanity and widespread suffering. Building upon this matrix, the exhibition brings together the thought of Albert Camus, Franz Kafka, Simone de Beauvoir, Samuel Beckett, and José Saramago with the practice of fiber artists, invited to translate these texts into circular textile works that, through materiality, convey the tensions of an imaginary suspended between existential reflection and visual language.

The opening is scheduled for October 17 at 7:00 PM with a preview dedicated to artists and collectors, followed the next day by a private visit hosted for Art Table, which will inaugurate a series of public conversations. The first encounter will feature Nuria Richards, founder of Clandestina Feria and Director of Development and Strategy Advisor at Oolite Arts, Miami, in dialogue with textile artist Aurora Molina, founding member of FAMA, alongside other guests, to explore the contemporary fiber art landscape and the centrality of women’s practice within it. Throughout the exhibition, the program will be enriched by talks, workshops, and discussions among artists and curators, designed to foster critical and creative exchange around a discipline that has become increasingly significant within contemporary artistic research.

The exhibition will showcase the works of a wide community of artists including Adriana Carvalho, Aida Tejada, Ainaz Alipour, Alexa Mac Crady, Alice Raymond, Alison Stein, Allison Green, Amy Llanes, Amy Putman, Ana Garces Kiley, Andrea Jablonski, Andrea Venero Carrasco, Valeria Salinas, Angela Franklin, Anji Woodley, Anne-Isabel Wenhammer, Annie Lindberg, Atelier Lustig, Badru Temitayo, Barbara Ringer, Beth Toledo, Brenda Kuong, Brittany Kiertzner, Camille Eskell, Camille Nozay, Carlos Gamez de Francisco, Dana Donaty, Daniela Reis, David Zalben, Debora Rosental, Deborah Simon, Eden Quispe, Eileen Braun, Eileen Hoffman, Elham Shafael, Emily Peters, Eva Petrič, Evania Sempeles, Ewa Dąbkowska, Fernanda Froes, Frances Melhop, Francisca Rodillo, Fruma Markowitz, Georgia Frambis, Gin Stone, Giulia Sanambrogio, Han Cao, Hannah Banciella, Holis Hickerson, Hou Guan Ting, Jacqueline Myers-Cho, Jamie Zimchek, Janet M Muller, Jeanne Ciravolo, Joan Wheeler, Joanne Steinhardt, Jody Mac Donald, Judy Polstra, Karen Perry, Katia Bandeira de Mello-Gerlach, Katika, Kimberly Bentley, Laetitia Adam Rabel, Laura Marsh, Linda Fernandez, Lindsay Overbey, Lisa Rockford, Lottie Emma, Lydia Viscardi, Mabelin Castellanos, Macarena Zilveti, Madeline Thoman, Madison Hendry, Margaret Roleke, Maria Claudia Brigido, Marine Fonteyne, Maris Van Black, Marsha Borden, Meghan Udell, Melissa Campbell, Melissa Zexter, Michela Martello, Mila Hajjar, Miriam Rae Silver, Molly Gambardella, Monica Czukerberg, Mychaelyn Michalec, Nabila Valera, Nan Robarge, Nancy Tobin, Natale Cree Adgnot, Natalia Schonowski, Nicole Durham, Nina K Ekman, Ola Rondiak, Orsolya Illes, Paula Jacobo Alonso Leon, Rafael Montilla, Rebecca White, Remijin Camping, Renata Daina, Rosa Hernandez, Ruth Hamill, Sarah Laing, Sascha Mallon, Shamilla Aasha, Sherry Davis, Silvana Soriano, Simona Fantaisie, Sonja Czekalski, Sophie Papiau, Stefano Ogliari Badessi, Svetlana Astafuova, Toni Thomas, Micheal Sylvan Robinson, Uta Kreher, Vanda Berecz, and Yochi Yakir-Avin. Among the featured works are Fate (2025) by Eden Quispe, stitched and painted on found textiles, 18” in diameter, and Eye of Reincarnation (2025) by Hou Guan Ting, created with cotton, linen, embroidery threads, beads, pigment, and ink, measuring 16” in diameter.The CAMP Gallery, located at 791-793 NE 125 St., Miami, will be open Tuesday through Saturday from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM, with private tours available upon request by emailing hello@thecampgallery.com or calling 786-953-8807. For more information, please contact Amy Arechavaleta, Public Relations, at amy@thecampgallery.com