A HANDMADE tapestry which highlights corporate and human rights abuses around the world has gone on display in Belfast.
The `Threads for Corporate Justice' tapestry, which was unveiled at Ulster University in Belfast yesterday, was created by 12 Trócaire volunteers from across Ireland.
The piece of solidarity art will support the overseas aid agency’s Business and Human Rights campaign which calls for stronger regulation for companies responsible for human rights violations and environmental harms.
The tapestry was developed by Trócaire under the guidance of artists Deborah Stockdale and Roberta Bacic from Conflict Textiles, which holds a large collection of international textiles reflecting conflict and human rights abuses.
Conflict Textiles facilitated four online workshops to guide the volunteers as they created their individual tapestry panels with themes including fast fashion, violent evictions, the impact of tobacco farming, pollution of rivers, and brave activists who struggle for justice despite facing grave danger.
The panels, created from scrap and sustainable materials, were then brought together into one large textile.
Trócaire is part of a global campaign which is calling for stronger corporate regulation, which includes urging Ireland and the UK to introduce a new law to hold companies to account for harming people and the planet.
The tapestry will be on display for one month in the Birley Building at UU's Belfast campus as part of the `One World Festival',
It will then be brought to various locations around Ireland to encourage action to help ensure people and the planet are prioritised over profit.
Jeannie McCann, Trócaire’s Advocacy and Campaigns Officer in Northern Ireland, said: "Art can be a powerful tool to help create positive social change.
"It can shine a light on injustice or help us imagine a better world," she said.
"This exciting project aims to do just that. Through their handy work the volunteers are standing in solidarity with impacted communities around the world".
