In three workshops and a workshop talk, we draw an analogy between patchwork and artificial intelligence and compare craft methods in textile art with algorithmic structures. Both systems share pattern creation and syntax, yet unlike AI, textile craftsmanship is rooted in a human dimension. In Crafting Connections, textile art comes to life as a database of cross-generational knowledge. At a time when the separation of body and mind is increasing and we often fail to nurture a sense of connection with ourselves and those around us, we celebrate textile craftsmanship as a radical practice of connectedness.

About the Workshops
In the workshops, we use the traditional patchwork techniques of Suffolk Puffs as a guide for action and the hand as the organ that connects us to the world. The Suffolk Puff, also known as a Yo-Yo or Fuxico, represents a caring data point in the network of human relationships, emerging from the textile archive of embodied knowledge and serving as a counterpoint to the logic of the machine.

The Process: Each participant brings cherished pieces of fabric that tell stories from their personal lives. As with the Brazilian fuxico—which also means “gossip”—we come together and sew as many puffs as time allows from the fabrics we’ve brought, as well as from the studio’s stash. Finally, we decide on their layout and join all the resulting pieces into a collective quilt.
​The event concludes with a workshop talk and presentation of the quilt. Guests are invited to participate both theoretically and practically (we’ll keep sewing). This creates a space for knowledge exchange, dialogue, and collective action.

Workshops:
August 7 and 8, 2026, 4:00–7:00 p.m. each day
August 25, 2026, 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Workshop Talk:
September 2, 2026, 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Registration: carokropff@posteo.net

About Take Care
“Take care! – Festival of Solidarity and Resistance” is a decentralised festival that brings together art and feminist questions about the future. It focuses on temporary, performative, collaborative artistic and activist projects, talks and gatherings in solidarity. Take care! explores how artists engage with issues such as AI dominance, resource crises and social polarisation, what questions they raise, and what strategies of solidarity and resistance might look like. The festival takes place from August to October at various venues across Frankfurt. It sees itself as a unifying platform and incorporates various projects funded by the Frauenreferat Frankfurt into the programme as satellite events.