Re-weaving Shuangta 織夢雙塔 at Suzhou Design Week 2021

Re-weaving Shuangta 織夢雙塔 exhibited at Suzhou Design Week, December 3-7, 2021.

"The things above the sky, the things below the earth, and the things between the earth and the sky, as well as all those things people here refer to as past, present, and future—on what, Yajnavalkya, are all these woven back and forth?" He replied: "[…] —on space, Gargi, are all these woven back and forth." "On what, then, is space woven back and forth?” (Speech of Gargi Vacaknavi, from Brhadaranyaka Upanisad, ~700 BCE)

“The pattern (hua) evens what is uneven and reconciles what is not adjusted. Therefore the pattern can be the Director (zheng). Now the realization (wu zhe) [of the pattern] is the means by which you rule tendrils and align cords (chi wu yu mo).” (Speech of Jing Jiang, from Lienü zhuan by Liu Xiang, ~32 8 BCE)

Gargi Vacaknavi, in ancient India, was weaving the questions of life in a forum in which no women were normally permitted to speak. Jing Jiang, in ancient China, referred to weaving when she instructed her son Gongfu Wenbo on the art of government. The metaphor of weaving — ancient literature tells us — is a means for gaining agency.

Re-weaving Shuangta looks at the potentialities of weaving as a spatial practice. We have collected stories from the Shuangta community — on its social life and what it means to live with heritage. The work installed in the park close to the Twin Pagodas is woven with diverse sticks, strings and strips, integrating the collected stories, as well as image and audio materials. Open for participation, the residents may add new stories.