Giant blanket paying tribute to children killed in Gaza to go on display in Lancaster

A stitching event held in Lancaster to help create the 'Stolen Lives Stolen Futures' blanket

A blanket of more than 20 metres in length will go on display in Lancaster to remember children who have been killed in the Middle East.

'Stolen Lives Stolen Futures' is a multi media textile project inspired by the Irish blanket of rage, remembrance and resistance.

It is made up of crocheted, knitted, stitched and embroidered squares, with each square representing 10 children.

The first showing of Stolen Lives, Stolen Futures will be at the Storey in Lancaster as part of Fashion Revolution weekend, from April 23 to 25.

The blanket will be on display alongside art work made by children from Lancaster Families for Gaza, many of whom are Palestinian.  

It will be on display in Lancaster for three days before going to various sites across the UK. 

The Stolen Lives, Stolen Futures blanket

Women around the country have been making squares and sending them to be used for the project.

"Each square represents 10 children murdered in Gaza," said Fariha Blockley from Lancaster, from the project.

"This blanket is a work in progress and is currently over 21m long.

"Crafters across the UK and Ireland have made these squares which have been stitched together in homes and community centres across North Lancashire and South Cumbria."

People gathered at Marsh Community Centre in Lancaster on Sunday at a stitching event, to join together the squares to create the blanket.

"This is to make up a mighty blanket of collective remembrance for children killed in the genocide in Gaza," said an Instagram post by The Sewing Cafe Lancaster.

"Fariha from Sewing Cafe Lancaster has just received a box of 655 squares created by so many well-wishers!"

The Stolen Lives, Stolen Futures blanket

Fashion Revolution Week is a global campaign from April 23 to 29 in memory of the Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladesh in 2013, initiated by the Fashion Revolution movement.

It calls for a fairer, safer, cleaner, more transparent fashion industry with questions of ethics and sustainability at its centre.

The Sewing Cafe is organising a 'Pockets of Possibilities' event to coincide with Fashion Revolution Week, with various displays, speakers, workshops and activities at the Storey Gallery and the Music Room in Lancaster from April 23 to 25.

Sewing Cafe Lancaster is a grassroots project that advocates for an ethical textile industry and regenerative textile practices.

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