Cotton, Colonies and Culture: The Social Justice Story of Shweshwe – Non-Member Ticket Sale

You are invited to join us for a one hour Zoom webinar presentation by Celeste Compion on Saturday, September 17 at 3 pm ET.

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Description of Presentation

Cotton, Colonies and Culture: The Social Justice Story of Shweshwe

The webinar explores the role of cotton in the development of today’s global economy, highlighting the history of cotton textiles during the colonial era. Three Cats Shweshwe, a heritage product dating from the industrial revolution, is a living reminder of this history. There is nothing more invisible than those items which are completely overlooked in our daily life, and ubiquitous cotton is one such product. By understanding the past, we are able to raise our awareness of the present, and make informed decisions about the future as consumers of cotton.

About Celeste Compion

Born and raised in Cape Town, South Africa, Céleste Compion comes from a family of sewing and knitting enthusiasts. She started learning needlecrafts from the age of 5 and was introduced to quilting in 1985, when she joined a small weekly quilting group and by 1999 she started a quilting group of her own. She taught quilting and patchwork in her home and in a sewing store in Cape Town.

In 2001, she moved to Canada. Since her arrival, she and her family have lived in beautiful Elora, on the edge of Mennonite country, and her first Canadian friends were quilters from local guilds. For several years, all needlecraft took a back seat to the demands of settling and making a new life as an immigrant, but now she is immersing herself in the world of textiles and creativity as never before.

Driven by her passion for the beautiful creativity of South Africa, she aims to teach more people about it, by importing and distributing Three Cats Shweshwe to North America. Shweshwe, often called the tartan of South Africa, is a heritage fabric with a fascinating social justice story. Her presentation, “Cotton, Colonies and Culture” is all about that story and how it fits into world history.