UNTIL 19 SEPT 2021  |  ART GALLERY  |  FREE

Suffrage in Stitches is a unique handcrafted exhibition honouring our whakapapa, history and the power of New Zealanders. It pays tribute to the women and men who came together to win suffrage for women in 1893, a major milestone in our nation’s story. 

The exhibition features stitched, sewn and embroidered panels, one for every person who signed the 1893 suffrage petition. Together these panels will stretch for 300 metres through the heart of the Art Gallery. 

Suffrage in Stitches is the work of 546 individuals, families and groups from New Zealand and beyond, of all ages and abilities. It’s a celebration of “ordinary” people who came together to achieve an extraordinary thing, and shows how one craft-based idea can connect and bring New Zealanders together from multiple backgrounds, communities and generations.  

Suffrage in Stitches was developed by Vinnies Re Sew in partnership and with support from Wellington Museum.  

Among those remembered is local woman Louisa Snelson, “the Mother of Palmerston North”, who became a central figure in the community almost from the moment she arrived.

The signatories on the petition fought for equality; were part of the first acts of national political activism; had a desire for social justice; and a drive and demand for democracy. Pioneers of their time, their stories and strength continue to be sources of motivation for change today. 

– Vanisa Dhiru, President, National Council of Women