Academic turns yellow duster from object of domestic servitude to beacon of global female empowerment

Starting with simple question: Women and domesticity – what’s your perspective? the Domestic Dusters project has become a global success with over 700 women from around the world answering the call to turn the humble duster, an object of domestic servitude, into one of vibrant empowerment.

The embroidered dusters range from basic stitching to the meticulously crafted, carrying messages of female frustration, celebration and anger as well as a wry take on domesticity. Wherever they're hung, from exhibition spaces throughout the UK and Europe to the Welsh Senedd they provide a vibrant splash of yellow and red. Red thread is used to match the duster’s red edged hems, and because of its historical representation of feminine sexuality and fertility.  

The embroidered dusters range from basic stitching to the meticulously crafted, carrying messages of female frustration, celebration and anger as well as a wry take on domesticity. Wherever they're hung, from exhibition spaces throughout the UK and Europe to the Welsh Senedd they provide a vibrant splash of yellow and red. Red thread is used to match the duster’s red edged hems, and because of its historical representation of feminine sexuality and fertility. 

Vanessa Marr

Vanessa said: “Embroidery is a skill that has historically provided women with employment and literacy but likewise been used to keep us in our place – preferably quiet, uncomplaining, caring, and hidden away at home. Dusters were selected because as a mundane cleaning cloth, they share the cultural invisibility of so-called women’s work, transformed through embroidery into powerful advocates for change.

“Fundamentally this project aims to give women a voice where they are otherwise silenced, unheard, or simply ignored, building an empowering women-centred community through solidarity of experience and understanding. It addresses gendered domestic inequalities including everyday discrimination, such as the distribution of housework and caring responsibilities that still disproportionately fall on women’s shoulders , and supports those who domestic situations are compromised, for example through violence, displacement or unpaid caring roles. Hand-stitching is also a method that is accessible and has benefits for mental health.”

The project has recently been recognised for the 2023 collaboration with We Care, a grassroots charity who campaign for the rights of unpaid carers, and Oxfam Cymru, which invited unpaid carers in Wales to embroider their experiences onto dusters. The partnership, which was partially funded by the University of Brighton through its Impact Accelerator Account (IAA) saw dusters strung across the width of the Welsh Senedd building and around the central core of the upstairs level, above Members of the Senedd sitting in session. Vanessa, Sarah Rees from Oxfam, and Katy Styles from We Care presented the dusters to the Senedd with speeches that called for better rights and steps towards a national register of carers.

Following the display at the Senedd, Vanessa and Katy are using further IAA funding from the University of Brighton to produce a podcast and a publication to share the lived experiences of those who took part in their campaign. They hope that the visibility this will generate with policy makers and the public will highlight carers’ value and help them to get the support they deserve. University of Brighton has also funded the roots of another collaboration between Vanessa and Makani, an organisation that supports the empowerment of refugee women. Together, they will be working with a small group of refugee women later this spring to develop embroidery workshops with the duster that address the domestic challenges of homemaking and displacement.

Vanessa will be marking International Women’s Day (8 March) with an online talk about her project for the Royal Voluntary Service ‘Virtual Village Hall’. Later in the month she will also taking part in workshops and presentations at Lancaster University, the Creative Bodies, Creative Minds Conference in Austria and the Museum of Motherhood in Florida, USA.

Domestic Dusters can be seen at CraftWorks in London in May, and April through to June at Sunnybank Mills, in Leeds.

Instagram: @domesticdusters