Stories Told in Stitches came from my internship at the Museum of Cornish Life as an Assistant Museum Curator funded by Cultivator and organised through the University of Plymouth. As I was investing so much of my time and energy into my work, it made sense for it to become my Dissertation Project. I’d produce an exhibition for the museum and my analysis of my own work and how it answered a research question would count towards my MA Heritage Theory & Practise.

The research and analysis looked into how Daybell et al.’s Gendering theory could be applied to a small regional museum. This approach involved looking deeply into each object’s life story and examining what stories were unearthed that are typically overlooked—such as those about gender. Inherently intersectional, this allowed a dress worn by a rich white woman to represent the stories of those who produced the raw materials, transported them, made it, and more. 

The exhibition itself explore the theme of gender – how it is a social construct and clothing can illustrate how much expectations have changed over time.