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# Project Description Strapped to the Global City Regina Perez Kamel Summary Final work Born in Mexico City and raised between the south of Mexico and South Texas, Regina’s creative practice is fueled by an interest in culture, identity, and transnational politics and grounded by a passion for textiles, dress, and craft. With an understanding of art and design as vehicles for changing our world, she aims to contribute to sustainability and decoloniality through her research-driven work. Born in Mexico City and raised between the south of Mexico and South Texas, Regina’s creative pra... College Chelsea College of Arts Course MA Textile Design Graduation year 2025 Backstrap weaving is a technique that has survived modernisation in the hands of artisan communities. Confronted by the climate crisis and the role of the fashion-textiles industry in it, I embarked on a journey to learn this craft and deepen my understanding of sustainable practices. Situating this process in London allowed me to engage with the city through the eyes of the backstrap loom. Guided by its relational nature, I recognised my body as a centre of knowledge from where to navigate, question and connect to the global city. Untangling and weaving threads, the backstrap loom acted as a tool for self-reflection and decolonial exercise, serving as a bridge to other ways of being and worlds beyond Western logics. Final work This Bridge Called the Backstrap Loom As embodied knowledge passed down through generations, learning to weave with the backstrap loom taught me the value of relationality and collaboration, which translated into navigating London with an intercultural disposition. This allowed me to learn by engaging in conversation about lac, a natural dye material produced in India, which I thought was similar to cochineal, a material from Mexico, as both yield reds and come from bugs. Since I decided to work with cochineal due to its link to colonial trade, dyeing with both stands as a statement of the healing power of collectivity, and of the need to build cross-cultural bridges to get through the civilization crisis we face as we confront environmental, social, and economic challenges in our contemporary world. Weaving Process Weaving with the backstrap loom. The Backstrap Loom The implements of the backstrap loom and the thread used. In Mesoamerican mythology, these implements were depicted as the weapons of war of goddesses. Research and process Strapped to Big Ben With a studio overlooking Big Ben, the question became, what happens when you situate a slow practice like the backstrap loom in a fast-paced context like London? Are we slowing time by strapping to Big Ben? Is it a resistance? It was a She One day, after untying the dyed threads and placing the loom on the floor, I came across a shape that reminded me of a vagina. At that moment, I understood the concept of "making with" an began to listen to the loom to discover what the work was about. Share this project Backstrap weaving is a technique that has survived modernisation in the hands of artisan communities. Confronted by the climate crisis and the role of the fashion-textiles industry in it, I embarked on a journey to learn this craft and deepen my understanding of sustainable pr... A link to this page has been added to your clipboard Browse related work Activism Aesthetics Being Human Body Community Craft & Process Gender Identity Social Justice Body Craft Decolonisation Resistance Sustainability
# Links ## Official page - https://ualshowcase.arts.ac.uk/project/690444/cover ## External - https://www.instagram.com/reginaperezkamel - tel:9563095330 - mailto:regina.perezj08@gmail.com - https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fualshowcase.arts.ac.uk%2Fproject%2F690444%2Fcover&text=Strapped+to+the+Global+City - https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fualshowcase.arts.ac.uk%2Fproject%2F690444%2Fcover&media=https%3A%2F%2Fportfolio-tools.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2025%2F12%2F08164841%2FUAL-Showcase-2.png&description=Strapped+to+the+Global+City