Back to the Sacks …

This week I received a parcel containing a coffee sack, an unusual gift except this was from a friend who understands my passion for sacks. This attachment started when I first went to Brazil in 2012. When I noticed the way in which hessian and sacks were used in traditional craftwork and in general use for door and window covering. They were not always decorated but some were beautifully stitched. So, I took some sacks home to begin a project that would continue until 2020 and beyond. I select sacks that are undamaged and with minimum documentation.  I understand the freshly harvested beans are transported in sacks that have been stitched closed and taken to the next stage of their manufacture.  At this stage the sacks are opened. Seemingly, for expedience the sack is stabbed with a knife and the beans poured into vats to be roasted. The sacks are discarded rendered useless. If on the other hand the sack is carefully unstitched, the sack is undamaged and can be reused.

These are the sacks I prefer. I unpick the other seams to reveal an ‘open canvas’ to be stitched, painted and appliqued to make wall hangings or lately to make back drops for stop motion animated films. 

Another consideration when selecting a sack is the documentation and the farmers emblem while it is vital information for the industry. To me it is another thing to cover up or enhance depending on the look I want. Using the reverse side is an option but some lettering or motifs still show through. 

There is one good thing about the knife damaged sack as it remains in almost pristine condition only having been used once. The sack opened more carefully has been repurposed and therefore shabby or perhaps pleasing in other ways. So, there are pros and cons. 

So back to my gift it was from a dear friend and kindly intended and I am deeply heartened.   However, there is a nasty slash and some stab wounds. There is a lot of documentation relating to its content saying where the beans were harvested etc. etc.

While I was delighted with the gift I was at a loss as to what I could do with it.  I laid gently, as it was a precious thing. Why I did that remains a mystery it’s a sack representative of a complex industry where human rights abuses are overlooked in all stages of its production.

I touched its wounds held them together, stitching like a surgeon with his needle and sutures making little back stitches as if the encourage healing and minimise scarring. It was a tender moment when I decided to repair the sack as if it were beloved. A symbolic gesture rather than open up the sack in an undignified way but to heal it and give it back some life.  I will in time embroider it , not to hang it on the wall or give meaning to a film … but to express gratitude to the torn sack which is token of an industry that has given so much but also has caused environmental destruction and despair to poor farmers and enslaved workers.

I am truly grateful to my friend who unbeknown to her has given rise to a tender work that will aid my own repair.