The Rug Project – United Threads
Exhibition|A Collective Tapestry of Land, Story and Connection in Vancouver Island & Gulf Islands
- Language English
- Part of series: (re)OPEN MINDS 2026: Adapting to the Future
Presented in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut Toronto
The Rug Project – United Threads is an international, participatory art initiative by German
interdisciplinary artist and social designer Mona Steinhäußer. The project aims to bring together First Nations women and youth across Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands — including Salt Spring Island,
where the artist will be based, hosted by SIREWALL , — to co-create a large tufted textile work
from locally produced and naturally dyed wool. The process centers shared making as a way to
connect, exchange knowledge, and honour lived experiences, without prescribing what should be
spoken, remembered, or transformed.
Steinhäußer’s artistic practice sits at the intersection of ecology, material culture, and social
interaction. With United Threads, she creates a setting in which participants choose how they wish
to engage — through stories, silence, technique, or collective craft. The project acknowledges the
long-lasting impact of colonial estrangement processes that have shaped relations between people,
land, and cultural knowledge in the region. Rather than claiming to repair these histories, it aims to
hold space in which Indigenous perspectives, expertise, and cultural sovereignty guide the artistic
direction.
Across the two-month residency, the artist collaborates with wool farmers on Vancouver Island and
the Gulf Islands, natural-dye practitioners, and First Nations women’s and youth groups. Together,
they explore regional wool, plant-based dyes, and the development of individual or collective visual
motifs. The resulting textile work will first be presented locally before travelling to Europe, opening
pathways for broader conversations about material culture, history-telling, and how shared artistic
processes can foster awareness of ongoing colonial conditions.
The project grew out of Steinhäußer’s first encounter with Salt Spring Island and the wider region
— its ecological richness, strong wool community, and the noticeable absence of Indigenous
narratives in many public and institutional contexts. The Rug Project – United Threads responds
to this by foregrounding Indigenous voices, agency, and artistic direction as central to the
collaborative process.
Part of the program reOpen Minds: Adapting to the Future.
Presented by the Goethe-Institut Toronto.
Under the auspices of Prof. Gesche Joost, President of the Goethe-Institut.
The Rug Project – United Threads is an international, participatory art initiative by German
interdisciplinary artist and social designer Mona Steinhäußer. The project aims to bring together First Nations women and youth across Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands — including Salt Spring Island,
where the artist will be based, hosted by SIREWALL , — to co-create a large tufted textile work
from locally produced and naturally dyed wool. The process centers shared making as a way to
connect, exchange knowledge, and honour lived experiences, without prescribing what should be
spoken, remembered, or transformed.
Steinhäußer’s artistic practice sits at the intersection of ecology, material culture, and social
interaction. With United Threads, she creates a setting in which participants choose how they wish
to engage — through stories, silence, technique, or collective craft. The project acknowledges the
long-lasting impact of colonial estrangement processes that have shaped relations between people,
land, and cultural knowledge in the region. Rather than claiming to repair these histories, it aims to
hold space in which Indigenous perspectives, expertise, and cultural sovereignty guide the artistic
direction.
Across the two-month residency, the artist collaborates with wool farmers on Vancouver Island and
the Gulf Islands, natural-dye practitioners, and First Nations women’s and youth groups. Together,
they explore regional wool, plant-based dyes, and the development of individual or collective visual
motifs. The resulting textile work will first be presented locally before travelling to Europe, opening
pathways for broader conversations about material culture, history-telling, and how shared artistic
processes can foster awareness of ongoing colonial conditions.
The project grew out of Steinhäußer’s first encounter with Salt Spring Island and the wider region
— its ecological richness, strong wool community, and the noticeable absence of Indigenous
narratives in many public and institutional contexts. The Rug Project – United Threads responds
to this by foregrounding Indigenous voices, agency, and artistic direction as central to the
collaborative process.
Part of the program reOpen Minds: Adapting to the Future.
Presented by the Goethe-Institut Toronto.
Under the auspices of Prof. Gesche Joost, President of the Goethe-Institut.