Activity: Talk or presentation types › Invited talk
Description
Lacemaking is an important part of Belgium’s cultural heritage. During the First World War, the Belgian lace industry and its workers were supported by humanitarian organisations, while a young mother took up the activity as an amateur to cope with the dire events. The produced lace became known as war lace, as its unique iconography referred directly to the conflict. Focusing on war lace, Wendy Wiertz reveals how making lace transformed for both professional and amateur lacemakers into a means to survive the war. She connects the women’s lives, their craft and the produced lace with the preservation of the self, the community and the nation.