Ludmila Christeseva turned to weaving as a powerful response to the war in Ukraine. Through initiatives like Crafts that Unite, Heal, and Last (Sweden, 2022) and Women Weave for Peace (Norway, 2023), she has created spaces for displaced women, transforming weaving into a tool for healing, solidarity, and resilience. These projects foster a sense of unity and purpose, helping refugees process trauma and rebuild hope through collective art.
At the heart of Christeseva’s work is peacebuilding through crafts, which serves as a universal language of mutual understanding and support. Her projects facilitate cross-cultural dialogue, uniting nations. This impactful journey is now captured in The Years of Weaving, a documentary directed by New York-based filmmaker Hsuan Yu Pan, originally from Taiwan. Pan has designed the film as a collaborative project, involving students from diverse countries and disciplines, providing them with visibility and career-building opportunities that foster global networks.
Weaving serves as a transformative platform in Christeseva’s practice, allowing exploration of womanhood across cultures and political contexts. Her extensive research involves collaborations with scholars from institutions like Stockholm University, Yale School of Medicine, and curators from MoMA, the MET, Nordiska Museet, and the Nobel Museum. Through lectures and workshops, Christeseva shares insights into crafts as a means of empowerment, advancing a vision for a more inclusive world enriched by gender equity, expanded opportunities, and respect for democratic values.