Quilt of Belonging

The Quilt of Belonging is a collaborative textile arts project initiated by Canadian artist Esther Bryan.

[1] The 120-foot (37 m) long by 10.5-foot (3.2 m) high (36 metres by 3.5 metres) tapestry includes 263 quilt blocks,[2] and portrays the cultural legacies of Canada’s First Peoples and of every nation in the world, all of which are part of Canada’s social fabric.

[3][4] The Quilt of Belonging was an art-in-community project, created by volunteers from Victoria to Newfoundland to the Arctic Circle, each of whom were invited to contribute a quilt piece reflecting their cultural backgrounds.

The materials in the pieces range from sealskin to African mud-cloth, from embroidered silk to gossamer wings of butterflies.

The quilt, which was designed as a traveling exhibit, then went on a five-year tour across Canada, including communities in the arctic.