Exhibitions

‘Women Rising: From Prisoners to Artisans’ During Beirut Design Week 2015

Tuesday, Jun 2, 2015
4:00pm -> 10:00pm
Beirut Design Week 2015

MENA Design Research Center

During Beirut Design Week 2015, Sarah’s Bag will present “Woman Rising: From Prisoners to Artisans”, an experience that takes visitors into the heart of what the social enterprise and handbag and accessories label is all about. In addition to the exhibition, the label will also showcase its summer collection.

Woman Rising draws visitors into the unmediated world of the prisoners who have been working with Sarah’s Bag since the label launched in 2000. Sarah’s Bag’s designs its collections around these women’s skills in beading, embroidery, and crocheting; their handwork is the label’s signature. The exhibition reveals what led these artists to be incarcerated, their fears, their deepest desires and frustrations, and their hopes for the future.

30 artists pour their stories onto 40 canvases, big and small. Proceeds from the sale of each of the big canvases will go the artist who created it. The funds raised from the sale of the small canvases, which are the work of a group of artists, will go to Dar Al Amal, the NGO that works with underprivileged women and women at risk. Dar Al Amal will use the proceeds to help prisoners fund their legal expenses and hire lawyers, as well as improve prison conditions by installing air conditioning for the stifling, overcrowded prison cells and new water dispensers, among other amenities that have an impact on the daily life of prisoners.

The NGO Dar Al Amal will also be launching a book about prison life at the event. They will be available for sale inside beautiful pouches embroidered and beaded by Sarah’s Bag’s artisans in prison.