‘Connective Thread’ exhibit stiches Latinas in Minnesota to their clothes

NINA MOINI: Whether we want it or not, US culture puts a lot of pressure onto how women look. A group of Latina artists wanted to highlight the complexities of moving through the world as a woman. They contributed to a new exhibit called Connective Thread about what projects or protects and adorns women's bodies. The exhibit is running for Women's History Month through CLUES, Minnesota's largest Latino-led nonprofit. And Carla Manzoni is the Director of Arts and Cultural Engagement at CLUES. She's here to talk about the art and the exhibit that celebrates Latina womanhood and bodily autonomy. Thank you so much for joining us, Carla.

CARLA MANZONI: Hello, Nina. How are you? Thank you for having me.

NINA MOINI: I'm doing great. Oh, you're so welcome. Thanks for coming on. I really like and am intrigued by the focus on textiles and clothes. Can you tell me a little bit about the exhibit and why the focus is there?

CARLA MANZONI: Yes. So first of all, we invite everyone to come to this exhibit because it is for everyone, not only for those interested in clothing and textile. But we thought about, what is the art that embodies womanhood in a way that maybe others wouldn't? And we thought about textile art as a way to really bring these connections, these threads together.

The whole project is centered around reflection, resource sharing, and community building. So we thought that textile art is a type of art that is very associated with being a woman. And it has also been a way that, across Latin America but in many other cultures, women have created income, have supported their families, have created clothing for their kids too. So they have they are supporting the protection of their own families. So I think that it could be read in so many ways that it provided the right environment to create this reflection and these intergenerational connections across women.

NINA MOINI: Yeah. How did you go about selecting or finding artists that contributed to this exhibit?

CARLA MANZONI: Yes. The artist is actually the initial-- the original artist is a colleague of mine. We met in grad school. She's a professor. And she's also an artist. And she's a poet. She does all these things. So we engaged in conversation last year when I saw her piece at one of-- another exhibition. And I said, what you are doing really aligns with the vision that we have for Women's Month. And that's how it started.

She, of course, has a lot of projects or pieces in mind connected to this idea. So she continued creating art pieces. And that is what resulted in our Connective Thread exhibition. So it has a piece that is a collaboration between the artist and her aunt. And then there is a piece that we created here in Minnesota with a local Latina fashion designer, Nena Atelier.

And so the idea was to really tap into intergenerational memory and her own history but also making it present and making it about the connections that we can make across women here in Minnesota, Latina women here in Minnesota.

Regarding clothing, William Gustavo Franklin Torres wrote an essay for our exhibition. And he recalls that fashion was a modernist project so that the rights of people of all genders and creeds express themselves, of stories be told, of connections be made. And so I think that this idea of clothing really allowing you individually to create the person you want to become, it empowers you so much.

So we wanted to really challenge also the way that we traditionally think about clothing, as this thing that is a uniform that this thing that maybe doesn't allow us to express ourselves. No, clothing really is a way to also create a identity and redefine who you want to be.

NINA MOINI: Yeah. Instead of sometimes people can feel self-conscious in clothing, but it can also be a wonderful way of owning power and self-representation. And so I understand that this exhibit, although obviously everybody's welcome, really speaks to Latina life specifically in Minnesota. What do you think is unique to Latinas living here in Minnesota?

CARLA MANZONI: Well, we are a community that has been here in Minnesota for a very long time, over a hundred years. And we are in a position of so much growth that it's really imperative for us to have more visibility and to be in all spaces. And at the same time, it is really important for us to create these spaces that are Latino so that we can continue to build our own identity within Minnesota.

And what we also have is a really deep sense of community. And women are the backbone of our communities. Women are also the ones that are opening businesses more than any other. Latinas are opening more businesses than any other group.

So I think that all these things are connected into really thinking about the potential of the Latina community-- the Latino and the Latina community and also folks that have faced barriers due to their gender identity. How can we all push to creating a space that is more welcoming of all of us, including all of the Latina community?

NINA MOINI: And you mentioned a couple of times about just the importance of talking across generations. And when you think about the growth of the Latina community and the different generations, why is it so important to talk amongst generations?

CARLA MANZONI: Yes. I really think that we can achieve what we want to achieve as women, Latina women in Minnesota, is if we actually talk across generations and learn from each other. I think that if you ask, what does it mean to be a woman to a Latina that is 18 years old and Latina that is 65 year old, the definitions are going to be so different. And so I think that in our intergenerational conversations and intergenerational community building, we allow people from different generations learn from each other, learn from our past, because things don't happen in a vacuum.

We have had a lot of women doing a lot of work so that we are where we are today. And also, the vision of tomorrow really infuse that kind of futuristic and full of possibilities view so that we actually shape the future we want.

NINA MOINI: Yeah, I love the idea, too, of everyone can learn from everyone. It's not, oh, that's so outdated, or these young people, they're so different. It's about learning and then taking the best pieces of whatever you want, really. And so I understand the exhibit opened already over the weekend. What's been the reaction so far from the audiences?

CARLA MANZONI: Oh, the reaction was incredible. We had the opening reception on Saturday morning. It is called Cafecito de Hermanas. We tend to go out for coffee with friends. So we wanted to create like a situation of going for coffee with friends in a large community. We didn't know what the response would be. But we had 300 people show up for the cafecito.

NINA MOINI: Wow.

CARLA MANZONI: The entire spaces were full. We added additional components to the cafecito. So we had an activity with the gallery. And that was an invitation for people attending to be part of one of the artistic pieces. So people would-- we invited them to intervene a dress in real time. We had organza petals. And people were invited to write in wishes for growth in those petals. And then those petals turn into flowers. And those flowers will be attached to the dress.

NINA MOINI: Wow, cool.

CARLA MANZONI: So the idea is to actually involve people into the creation of art. And that is a collaboration between the artist and Nena Atelier. And then we also had resource tables. So we had different community organizations, like our own team at CLUES, Esperanza United, Wishes Latinas, Teatro del Pueblo, the University of Minnesota 10,000 Families Studies. So we invited them so there would be resources.

NINA MOINI: Wonderful.

CARLA MANZONI: And there was a panel of Latina giants in different sectors really talking about how to break gender barriers.

NINA MOINI: All right. Carla, thank you so much. I'm so excited for you. Wishing you all the best with the exhibit. Take care.

CARLA MANZONI: I wish to see you at our exhibit. And I invite everyone. This is for everyone.

NINA MOINI: Thank you.

CARLA MANZONI: And everyone will love it. Thank you.

NINA MOINI: All right. CLUES Director Carla Manzoni, thanks for being on the show. Exhibit runs through May 14. More information at mprnews.org.