‘Hail U’ is a dedication to my maternal Ancestors. The title comes from the maiden name of my Great Grandmother, Tiblez Hailu. Tiblez was a Tigrayan women from Adi-Kaie, Eritrea, and the name Hailu means ‘My Power’ in Amharic.
The embroidery incorporates elements and symbolism of the blood and culture of my maternal lineage. The central figure wears a traditional Habesha gown and hairstyle which honours my grandmother and great grandmother however, She represents all women in my maternal lineage, and the power, wisdom and serenity passed down from our Ancestors.
The phrase “This is for my mother, and her mother, and her mother too” stitched around the border of the piece, was translated to Tigrinya, Arabic, and Greek by different members of my extended family, and are the known languages of my maternal Ancestors.
A bed of flowers made up of the national flowers from countries in my cultural DNA sits at the feet of the main figure including the Gerbera representing Eritrea, the Egyptian Lotus representing Egypt, The Bear’s Breech representing Greece and the Hibiscus representing North Sudan. The Golden Wattle represents so called Australia, and the Palm and Monstera leaves represents tropical Queensland where I was born and raised, specifically Meanjin (Brisbane) the land of the Turrbal people.
The leopard standing confidently by Her side, represents strength and rare beauty, while the phoenix She holds symbolises birth, death, and rebirth – the cycle of life. Crowning the piece, and watching over everything, is the Evil eye, which in many ancient cultures provides protection from evil and negative energy. The tiger eyes on either side, promote power, courage, and fearlessness.
The colonial fixation on categorising land and people into binaries and fractions is unrealistic for most human beings who have rich and complicated ethnic and cultural identities. Compartmentalising people and their identities into labels and percentages supposedly makes things easier to understand, but for who is this easier? For most of my life, perceiving myself through the coloniser’s lens prevented me from seeing my identity as stacked, fluid, multifaceted and unique. While sometimes I still feel not “insert label here” enough, I feel comforted when I remember that I am the culmination of all my Ancestors before me, and they are all within me.
The process of designing and hand stitching a piece which encapsulates and unifies my maternal lineage was a healing and meditative process. My hope is that this piece resonates with those whose identities have been fractured by the ongoing effects of colonisation and the arbitrary binaries of borders and nationalities.
ኢዚ ነደይ፡ንዲኣን፡ንዓባያን። // هذا من أجل أمي، وأمها، ووالدتها أيضاً // Αυτό είναι για τη μητέρα μου, για τη μητέρα της, καθώς και για τη γιαγιά της // This is for my mother, and her mother, and her mother too