Stitched by Refugees
Transformation, belonging, and collective healing
For many of us from Belarus and Ukraine, the absence of grandfathers is a quiet yet profound legacy of World War II. Our mothers grew up never knowing their fathers, while our grandmothers raised children alone – running homes and farms, ensuring survival, and carrying the weight of entire families on their shoulders. Today, history echoes again.
How many children are growing up without fathers?
Where do women find the strength to carry on?
What do we hold onto to?
Over time, fashion has faded into shades of grey. Roses of Ties seeks to bring color back to our wardrobes and to our lives. It speaks of kindness and hope in turbulent times, and for many people it becomes a way to fill emptiness with meaning and connection.
A symbol of patriarchal authority is reimagined through acts of feminist care, embodied memory, and shared ritual. Ties are transformed into tributes to the women who carry on – fragile yet strong, like roses.
Swedish Women’s Stories
Swedish women donate ties left behind by their fathers, husbands, and partners. The only thing they ask in return is a Rose of Tie to wear close to the heart. This act of remembrance is sacred and deeply emotional. Through the delicate process of shaping ties into roses, Ukrainian women transform personal trauma and loss, connecting with other women through the invisible threads of craft and forging a profound global sisterhood. The resulting collection of crafts and nets stands as a legacy of war, resonating far beyond individual lives. Academic research and film documentaries trace the hands of Ukrainian women, revealing how unstoppable they are in transforming grief into shared strength. Read more.
Integration & Crafts
The integration of Ukrainian families into Swedish society unfolds through the shared language of craft. Ukrainian women create one Rose of Ties each day – a quiet ritual that has become their way of counting time, where every second matters.
Time becomes almost tangible: measured not in hours, but in stitches and breaths, in every fold – in every Rose of Ties.
But do we really need so many flowers?
Roses of Ties Presentation at the Army Museum in Stockholm
Book Workshop
Turn your old tie into a rose at Artten Gallery.
🔹 No sewing skills needed
🔹 350 SEK /person
Made in Solidarity
Do you have a tie with a story? A memory woven into its fabric? Together with women from around the world, we are building a MUSEUM OF TIES – a place for healing, remembering, and safety, something for our children to hold onto in the future.
E-mail us your story or send a tie to:
Ludmila Christeseva
Artten Gallery
Artillerigatan 10
11451 Stockholm, Sweden.
Photograph: Sebastian von Wachenfeldt
