Guernica remakings: action, collaboration and thread

Reworkings of Pablo Picasso’s Guernica include versions in textile that have been produced or exhibited in recent years. Amongst these is Remaking of Picasso’s Guernica as a Protest Banner, an initiative in which the author herself was involved. Focusing on the ideas and concerns that underpinned the production of this banner, the author explains the significance of its deployment in public sewing events held in 2013 and 2014 Comparison is also drawn between the banner and two other reworkings of the Picasso painting in textile – a 1955 version that was included in an exhibition by Goshka Macuga called The Nature of the Beast that was held at the Whitechapel Gallery in London between 2009 and 2010, and The Keiskamma Guernica, a work made in South Africa that was completed in mid-2010. It is suggested that these various reworkings point to the amenability of the Guernica to be adapted to convey a statement of opposition to those in power who prioritize their own agendas to the detriment of civilians. But whereas Picasso produced his work solitarily, its reworking or reinterpretation in textile has enabled it to be made by collectives and/or to serve as a forum for group activism.