‘HAIL THEE: We Come in Reveries of Change’ is a sensory incantation by artist & curator Alison Conneely in support of UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, using art as a medium for social and environmental change.

In Alison Conneely’s tapestry, set in the ancient Derrigimlagh Bog in Connemara, a female figure rises from the bog calling us to action. In a series of symbolic silk textiles, a group of international artists respond to this call. Each textile is a moving evocation, deep from within its pigment.

This collaboration encourages us all to take actions, both small and big, to offer solidarity and raise awareness of some of the most pressing issues facing humanity. It asks us to create new ways of interacting with each other and with our planet that transcends borders and species.

Conceived in 2019, in the uplifting aftermath of the Repeal Referendum in Ireland, this project slowly gestated through a global health pandemic and worsening climate crisis. It was birthed in the devastating wake of the overturning of Roe v Wade and the toppling of reproductive rights in the US. In 2023 we send our solidarity to the brave women of Iran, who risk their lives and freedom every time they speak out, and we send our solidarity to the people of Gaza.

We call for peaceful solutions to the wars that are devastating so many lives in so many corners of the globe.

We stand with all those who are still persecuted due to sexuality and gender and who face danger in many countries. No matter the month, or decade or century, the body continues to be a battleground. The fight continues for sexual and reproductive health rights.

This ensemble of textiles is an ‘incitement to reverie’. Looking back through history, through story and myth, the marginalisation of women is overturned and here they inhabit powerful roles. Each textile is a poetic intervention, each one a call to action and solidarity. Moments of sensual, textured reverie allow us the freedom to dream, where imagination summons a different telling and alternative futures of empowerment.

Ancient myths and contemporary concerns wrought in silk are stories and declarations to wear upon our shoulders. We return to the cosmic constellations to turn things around. Goddesses, mythical figures, totems and persecuted women from the past join forces with the activists of the present to lead an epochal rising against oppression.

Through contemporary homage we salute those women who are on the front lines of wars, maternal and abortion rights campaigners, first nations activists, land protectors and climate activists. Safe crossings and unconditional welcomes for all migrants are demanded by our goddesses.

These textiles are interventions, stories reclaimed and retold, wearable actions, symbols of solidarity, and declarations of bodily autonomy.

Sara O’Rourke, Anthropologist, NUI Maynooth.

Colours and symbols in delicate silk invoke ancient myths, poetic imaginings, native American wisdom and the migrant’s crossing in a series of silk textiles created with international artists - Alannah Davey, Dolorosa de la Cruz, Rachel Fallon, Rosa Farahini, Jahnavi Inniss, Alice Maher, Paula McGloin, Jesse Jones, Hina Khan & Isabel Nolan.

Collaborators: Writer & researcher Sara O’Rourke & Designer Keith Nally.