Antje Rook

Just at the beginning of the Coronavirus outbreak, it was obvious, that my husband and I had to shield immediately due to his Leukemia.
At that point we didn't know how long we would have to be in isolation, but because I watched every single film about Pandemics available :-) ( my favourite is still 'Outbreak', with  Dustin Hoffman), I knew it would not be a matter of a few weeks.
As a creative mind, I always need to have some kind of creative project going on and that's why I started the 'Virus Project'
A virus a day - for every day in isolation, that was the plan!
After 3 days I had the idea to use the project to raise money for a good cause and set up a fundraising page.  The cause closest to my heart was our local hospital in Dorchester, the place where we would  be treated, if we would catch the virus.  
For every £20 donation, I would give a framed virus to the donor.
You can imagine how surprised, and also hurt and angry I was, when I was asked by the charity department  of the hospital to take down my page. They found it inappropriate to offer 'viruses!
Well, they are entitled to decide where their donations come from and therefore I changed my plan, set up a new fundraising page , directly for the NHS and raised £500 within a short time.I kept going for a long time and eventually I raised more and more money. I was also aked by people who had lost a person due to Covid, to put the name of their loved ones on a virus.I received many letters from people who told me about their experiences and the significance of this project for their own life.I made the viruses into a large quilt.The project became more and more popular and was shown in an exhibition in Rome and during the B-side festival on the Isle of Portland.In 2021 it was in an exhibition in Dorset Museum, together with some of my other work about the pandemic. I donated the quilt to the Museum and it will be shown as part of an exhibition about the Pandemic in the future
The virus quilt has a historical significance, because it documents the Pandemic 2020 in an abstract way.Some weeks ago I got a request from lady whose mother's name is on the quilt. She asked me to make replicas of this particular virus for herself and all her siblings. When she received them, she had them framed and gave one to each sibling. A little film about the Virus Project can be seen here.

https://youtu.be/8tfElOT7dXk?si=hf7AsSQemtHhDyFC

The Covid Chronicle is a worldwide project, founded by artist WENDY BLISS. 

https://www.instagram.com/wendy_bliss_artist/
The project‍"The Covid Chronicle is a stitched textile of one hundred and forty parts. It is the result of a masterpiece of vision by artist Wendy Bliss. To have recognised that this epidemic was worthy of recording by seeking an international response through interpretation of thoughts was unique in itself, but to have collated and organised the resulting testaments with needle and thread is a triumph. 

The work clearly demonstrates mental creativity and agility from all those who have so skilfully stitched their memories transposing them into a moving and unique work of art,"  Diana Springall, art collector, Author and Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Broderers.
During the lockdown of February 2021, Wendy reached out on social media to textile artists worldwide to make and donate a panel, set to a template, on the understanding that it would be permanently stitched together with others for exhibition, and eventually possibly sold in aid of MIND, the mental health charity. 

Separately and together, the aim was to create a sort of 'Bayeux Tapestry', a lasting record of personal experience of the pandemic while it happened. Wendy continues to devote herself to the project and as founder/curator will manage its destiny.

Completed in December 2021, The Covid Chronicle measures 36 x 1 metres, and includes a metre square title page by Lesley Fudge. Every pane,l received from 15 countries and 3 continents from around the world, has been included. Curated for colour and style, the squares were stitched into metre-square units and mounted onto poles for flexibility of hanging in different spaces.
Thanks to a Crowdfunding page, donations made towards the project facilitated publication of a full-colour catalogue to accompany the work as it toured prestigious exhibition venues around the UK in 2022. 

Catalogues are still available for purchase.  

All surplus or fresh funds raised will go to MIND, as have the proceeds from a sale of hearts made by the participating artists for the opening night at Riverside Studios, Hammersmith.
MIND Charity was chosen because working with slow-stitched textiles has proven benefits for mental health.  

Indeed, making tapestries kept Mary, Queen of Scots and her ladies in waiting fully occupied during her years of incarceration: envoy Nicholas White reported to Elizabeth, "I asked her Grace (Mary)... how she passed the time within. She said that all the day she wrought with her needle, and that the diversity of the colours made the work seem less tedious, and continued so long at it till very pain did make her to give over."
Participating artist for The Covid Chronicle, Naomi Adams, sums up: "Literally stitching my own story to that of others seemed like a perfect antidote to the disconnect I felt.' 

The Covid Chronicle has toured to the UK and was shown in lots of different places.

To find out where you can see it, vistit The Covid Chronicle

‍

Title

Noone should die without a hand to hold

Artist

Antje Rook - UK

Location

Dorset, UK

Panel ref

18-2

About

Right at the beginning of the pandemic, a friend of mine died. It was early days and we didn't know what we know now, he was left alone and told to take paracetamol and wait. A day later he was dead. I started reading about the way the NHS staff was coping and the conditions in hospitals. One thing I learned was, that everybody was overwhelmed and frightened. Relatives were not allowed in hospitals to be there for their dying loved ones and nurses and doctors didn't have the time to stay with patients on their last journey. Many people died alone, without comfort and very scared. Nobody deserves to die without someone holding their hand.

Title

NHS Thank you

Artist

Antje Rook - UK

Location

Dorset, UK

Panel ref

07-1

About

The last years have been a challenge for all of us, but especially for those who work on the front line, like all of NHS staff and every single person who helped us cope during the pandemic. We all clapped for our health care workers, but not everybody is aware of how many of them lost their lives or are left traumatised by their experiences. Special thanks are also due to all the people working in the background, from the medical technicians to the cleaners and drivers. My daughter works in child protection and had such a tough time the last years when domestic violence and child abuse increased dramatically. I'm sure there are thousands of other workers which we don't know about, but without them we wouldn't have been able to survive these challenging times. Thanks to all of them !

Some of the panels

Opening night of the Covis Chronicle in Riverside Studios, London

In 2023, I had the idea of working about the subject of 'HOME'. It started with myself,how I tried to come to terms with where my home is. I moved to the Uk in 2006 and I wasn't sure if Germany was still my home somehow, or was my chosen country and moer so,  Portland, my home? I started to wonder about other people feel about it. Do they still consider the country they were born in as their home? Or do they feel home in their new place? What does home mean at all? 

Here are my initial thoughts: What does HOME mean?
1. Home can mean environmental and cultural experiences and their impact on our being, our perception, our way of thinking, our behaviour and our relationships. 
2 .It can mean a place where our needs are met, from the most basic ones, like shelter and food to love and security. 
3. It can mean memories and fantasies which influence our present being. 
4. It can mean a sense of identity, belonging, from a small circle like family and friends to town, country, religion, culture, earth.

I found some answers from people who were asked what home means for them:
“Anywhere my kids are.”
“Where I can be naked, both emotionally and physically”.
“Anywhere my husband is. “You’re My Home” is an old Billy Joel song, and that is what is engraved on the inside of his wedding band. The lyrics are “I’ll never be a stranger, and I’ll never be alone. Wherever we’re together, that’s my home.” After 12 years and two kids, it’s still true.”
“Home isn’t a place; it’s a feeling.”
“A place where I can be 100 percent me. “
“The smell of my mother’s perfume. Even though we live 3,000 miles apart, if I walk down the street and someone is wearing it, I immediately feel like I’m home.”
“Home means sanctuary.”
“Home is where I can take off my bra”.
" Home means predictability in an uncertain world"
“Home is my soft place to land.”
 “Home is the place where you feel in control and properly oriented in space and time; it is a predictable and secure place.

 In the words of poet Robert Frost, "Home is the place that, when you have to go there, they have to take you in." 

In short, “home” is the primary connection between you and the rest of the world.”
What I noticed when I read these answers, was the fact that apparently ‘home’ seems to be another word for ‘happy place’! But I wanted to point out, that that’s is not always the case. There is a ‘dark’ side of home too. What about ‘homes’ which are associated with violence, abuse, addiction, exploitation and chaos? I didn't want us to forget those aspects and I thought it would be interesting, if we were brave enough, to explore those aspects as well.

I asked a few fellow artists if they would be interested in such a project and I got 20 positive answers. We met several times as a group and discussed our ideas, our progress and our experiences with 'Home'. These meetings became more and more personal, apparently 'home'is a very emotional and sensitive subject. We also discusses  possibilities of exhibitions,  explored about suitable venues and  even thought about a collaboration with a local school. 

After several months of hard work, we wereready to open the doors to the HOME exhibition. I already sensed that this would be a succesfull project and had booked 2 venues, the old fashioned little theatre on The Isle of Portland and a venue in Weymouth.

I stuck to my initial idea about the 'dark' side of home and when I saw a neglected dolls house in a charity shop, I knew what to do.

I created a little domestic scene in every room, but all related to the 'dark' side of home. One room was about domestic violence, one about femicide, one about sexual child abuse, one about eating disorders, one about depression, one about alcoholism and so on.

I'm showing here only the work I created. 

Here is a video a visitor took 

https://youtu.be/Qg8FHQjOZcc?si=8uFrJjIpNUBacA6F

This project was inspired by a discussion about if thre is such a thing as weed and are not all plants equaly important in our eco systems. I always loved wildflowers, which many people consider weeds.

I feel the beauty and delicacy and of course the healing powers of many wild flowers and herbs are often overlooked in modern times. 

For centuries wild flowers and their healing properties were an importantcontribution to medicine.

That's why I decided to let them shine in my wildflower project. Like with the virus quilt, I stitched a wildflower every day and didn't know where this would go, but eventually I got in contact with another artist who is passionate about wildflowers.

She arranged for my flowers to go to an exhibition in Romania.

Later they were shown by the Dorset Wildlife Trust in one of their centres, , The wild foundation wild chesil centre.