sewing a storytelling tapestry - when children take over the plot, a handmade art

The purpose of this text is to think about how the handmade presents itself in the language of a tridimensional storytelling tapestry created and sewn into books--a technique and enterprise for the promotion of reading that originated on France and has developed in Brazil as of 1997--thinking over its survival in technological and accelerated times. For a better study of such the question, an experiment was made in the specific context of the “Solar Meninos de Luz” (a philanthropic educational institution) with children between 9 and 11 years old. The objective was to observe how the children would appropriate the given materials and the language of the story through elaborating on the given, original narrative. Our research led to the formulation of the methodological concept of research-atelier, and the hand-crafted practice of creating and sewing tapestry as a vehicle for the identity-development of the self-storyteller. It also led to reflection on how children relate to dimensions of the handmade through the experience of storytelling with tapestry. The research suggests specific practical applications, and helps us in thinking about the exercise of expression, the elaboration of speech/narrative, and the process of communication in the educational medium.