tough

A la dècada dels seixanta, la NASA tenia un problema. S’acostava la data en què l’home havia de trepitjar la Lluna i, entre tots els reptes que havien de superar, un de gros era el disseny dels vestits espacials. El temps corria i la NASA va obrir un concurs a empreses externes que va guanyar ILC Dover, una petita empresa que estava especialitzada en la confecció de roba interior femenina que treballava el tèxtil a la perfecció. Per encarar aquest nou projecte, l’empresa va reclutar un grup de seixanta cosidores que ajudarien no només en la producció, sinó també en el disseny del vestit.

La seva contribució va ser imprescindible per assegurar l'èxit del primer pas a la Lluna. Però -un cop acomplerta la missió-, l’empresa va prescindir de moltes d’aquestes dones. Uns anys després, un astronauta deixaria a la Lluna un document en què s’hi recollien els noms d’uns set-cents treballadors que havien fet possible l’èxit de l’Apollo 11. Els noms de les cosidores no hi eren. A l’entrada de la Viquipèdia sobre els vestits espacials, la seva història tampoc no apareix per enlloc.

Quan el nostre projecte artístic sobre l’espai exterior ens va portar a investigar els vestits espacials, ens va caldre molta recerca per descobrir el llegat d’aquestes dones. Però, quan ho vam fer, ens va sorprendre la seva història—i ens va semblar molt injust que la seva contribució a l’exploració espacial no fos documentada ni reconeguda com es mereixien.

Si els noms dels enginyers de la NASA reposen a la Lluna, com podíem conservar els noms de les cosidores aquí, a la Terra? Com podíem protegir-les de la desaparició? Ens agradava la idea de fer-ho a la seva manera: amb fil i agulles, acostant-nos a un art que ens era desconegut.

Durant els últims mesos del projecte, vam intentar recuperar els noms de les seixanta cosidores. I, malgrat que només vam ser capaços de recollir-ne dinou, ens vam trobar amb un regal: dues d’elles encara són vives. La Jean Wilson i la Jo Thompson. Setanta-tres i vuitanta-cinc anys.

Gràcies a Facebook i a l’ajuda d’un historiador i un periodista, vam aconseguir contactar amb elles i el projecte es va definir. Si elles van protegir els astronautes del fred i del buit de l’espai, nosaltres vam decidir fer una manta que ara les protegeixi a elles. Una manta feta amb seixanta quadrats, un per cada cosidora. Una manta on brodar els noms d’aquestes dones, per salvaguardar-los de l’oblit.

Després de setmanes de feina, vam fer tres mantes. En diverses sessions, els alumnes van aprendre a brodar i una senyora gran ens va ajudar a unir els quadrats de tela.

Una de les mantes resultants va ser exposada, del 24 de maig al 3 de juliol de 2022, a la Capella de Barcelona: dins el marc de la mostra col.lectiva Per Capítols. EN RESiDÈNCiA a la Capella. Les altres dues mantes van ser enviades a les dues cosidores que encara són vives, que van rebre-les amb emoció i ens van respondre totes les nostres cartes - en un intercanvi que esperem que just acabi de començar.

Tough, reliable and almost cuddly

(2022) | Action and installation | Project developed in collaboration with a group of twenty students from the secondary school Vapor del Fil, as part of the program Artists IN RESIDENCE at the schools of Barcelona, promoted by the Barcelona Institute of Culture (ICUB) and Barcelona Education Consortium (CEB), an initiative developed in cooperation with the Association A Bao A Qu,

In the sixties, NASA had a problem. They wanted to send a man to the moon and, among the several challenges they had to face, one of them was the design of the spacesuit. They were running out of time, so NASA decided to hold a contest in which several companies could present their proposals. ILC Dover, a small enterprise specialized in lingerie, won the contest. And, in order to face this new project, the company recruited a group of sixty women that would not only help in sewing the spacesuit, but would also have a relevant role in its design.

Actually, their contribution and hard work was essential to securing the success of the first steps on the moon. However, once the mission was achieved, many of these women were fired and their effort was not recognized. Some years later, an astronaut left a document on the moon that collected the names of seven hundred workers that made the Apollo 11 mission possible. The names of the seamstresses were not there. In the Wikipedia page about the Apollo spacesuits, their names are nowhere to be found.

When our artistic project brought us to discover this story, we were shocked by how the seamstresses' contribution to history had been so widely dismissed and by how it remained, still nowadays, partly undocumented.

If the names of the engineers that worked on that mission were resting on the moon, how could we preserve the names of the group of seamstresses here, on Earth? How could we protect them from vanishing? We liked the idea of preserving their memory using thread and needles, getting closer to an art that they mastered and that was unknown to us.

During the last months of our project, we tried to gather the names of the sixty seamstresses that sewed the first spacesuits. And, even though we were only able to find nineteen names, we were rewarded with a surprise: two of these women were still alive. Jean Wilson and Jo Thompson. Seventy-three and eighty-five years old.

Thanks to Facebook and the help of a historian and a journalist, we were able to contact them and our project moved into a new direction. As these seamstresses had protected the astronauts from the cold and the void of space, we now wanted to create a blanket that would protect them. A blanket made out of sixty squares of textile, one for each seamstress that worked on the project. A blanket in which we would embroider the names of these women, so as to save them from oblivion.

After some weeks of work, we produced three blankets. In different sessions, the students learnt how to embroider and an old woman helped us by sewing the squares.

One of the resulting blankets was exhibited, from the 24th of May until the 3rd of July, in the Capella of Barcelona: within the frame of the collective show "Per Capítols. EN RESiDÈNCiA a la Capella". In this exhibition, we presented an installation that shared the unknown story behind the Apollo suits and our attempt to honor and recognize the work of these ladies.

The other two blankets were sent to the seamstresses who are still alive. They have already received them and replied to our letters, in a conversation that, hopefully, has just begun.

(2022) | Acció i instal.lació | Projecte realitzat en col.laboració amb els alumnes de 4rt d'ESO de l'Institut Juan Manuel Zafra el marc de la 10a edició de Creadors EN RESiDÈNCiA als instituts de Barcelona, un programa de l’Institut de Cultura de Barcelona i del Consorci d’Educació de Barcelona, ideat en cooperació amb l’Associació A Bao A Qu.

Above these lines, images of Armstrong's spacesuit on the moon and documentation of the women who made it. Below these lines, images of our own process of embroidering and creation of the blankets.

Below these lines, images of the installation we presented in La Capella of Barcelona, where the public could see the resulting blanket and get to know our project and the story of the seamstresses. The photographs of the exhibition space were taken by Pep Herrero.

Lastly, some images of how we prepared the packages to sent a blanket to Jo Thompson and Jean Wilson, documentation of how they received them and one of the beautiful letters that Jo Thompson sent to us (she wrote one different letter for each student!).

Alumnes de 1r d’ESO de l’Institut Vapor del Fil / First-year students from Vapor del Fil Secondary School
Marc Benedí Llàcer, Amanda Contreras Elmo, Aleix Diez Huerto, Arlet Goberna Llopis, Roc Goberna Llopis, Valentina Güefia Medina, Abril Hernández Morante, Aitana Iborra Roura, Gael López Pérez, Laia Malo Pursals, Oriol Manguan González, Lucas Moya Rios, Mateo Julián Neurohr Gómez, Alba Perpinyà Triginer, Diego Gerard Pizaña Linares, Ariadna Ramírez Novella, Juan David Salgado Almeida, Joan Salgado Ortega, Jordina Suarez Flores, Luis Suarez Medina.

Professors / Teachers
Lara Delgado i Jose Angel Prieto

Comissariat i coordinació / Curated and coordinated by
A Bao A qu

Creador EN RESiDÈNCiA / Arstist IN RESIDENCE
Martí Madaula Esquirol