MELBOURNE FASHION FESTIVAL
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MATRILINEAL THREADS

Matrilineal Threads honours the longstanding, often undervalued labour of women. This work has historically sustained households, preserved cultural knowledge, and built community. Drawing on Italian craft traditions and intergenerational textile practices, the exhibition reflects on how memory, skill and artistry move through time, carried by the hands of mothers, grandmothers and daughters.

At the centre of the exhibition are pieces created across three generations of women. Heirloom textiles sit alongside contemporary garments and visual artworks, positioning women’s domestic craft as both a record of the past and an active force in shaping the present. Rather than positioning these practices as domestic tasks, the exhibition recognises them as forms of artistry, emotional labour and cultural continuity.

Matrilineal Threads invites visitors to reflect on the role women’s creativity has played in preserving traditions, building resilience and imagining future possibilities. It is an exhibition about what lasts and the ways knowledge and care are passed from one generation to the next.