anneanne, mothermother
2024, Silk blouse, sewn by an Armenian tailor in Konya (TR), 1950s. Embroidered with cotton embroidery thread, 60x50 cm
Received walzmuster as an invitation to the exhibition
Photos by Valerie Habsburg
For the maternal grandmother, one says anneanne [mothermother] in Turkish, as if the word itself carries the mother’s projections onto her own mother.
The green blouse, sewed by the Armenian Tailor Master of yours, is the only thing I inherited from you beside your diaries. I found a photo of you with the blouse on. You are smiling, you know you are looking good.
Judith invited me to the exhibition she was planning, and handed me the printed rolling pattern, which looked exactly like the wallpaper of your bedroom, where you sewed and stitched in the night - when we all went to sleep. I guess you were not able to afford the real rolling patterns. The wallpapers started to dismantle after you passed away.