FUKUOKA, JAPAN. Textile Cartographies Mouvement (TCM), an international arts-based participatory project that connects communities through textile storytelling, will be presented during Kyushu University Asia Week 2026 in November.

Since 2022, TCM has brought together more than 10,000 participants from 22 countries across 36 groups, including museums, schools, universities, cultural organisations, social and healthcare organisations, and NPOs, from Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Namibia, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, and many more. Participants create and exchange simple 10 by 10 centimetre textile squares using recycled materials, stitching together personal and community stories about the environment, climate, social justice, heritage, resilience, and shared concerns for the future. The textile squares travel between communities, building a growing global network of stories and connections and generating new narratives and maps wherever they are created, exhibited, and cared for.



As part of Kyushu University Asia Week 2026, TCM will explore Social Design through New Feminist Materiality, examining how inclusive, participatory arts practices can support grassroots communities and foster horizontal cultural exchange. The lecture will feature the initiative’s coordinators, Dr T. Torres de Eça and Dr A. Saldanha, who will discuss the project and the diverse ways communities have adapted its methodology to their social and cultural contexts. The programme begins with a free public lecture on Saturday, 7 November 2026, from 13:00 to 14:00, followed by a two-day rolling walk-in workshop, a growing TCM exhibition, and an outdoor activity in Ohori Park. Participants will be invited to stitch their own textile squares and contribute personal narratives to the evolving display for the global TCM community.



The exhibition will bring together squares from previous workshops in Japan and from international participating groups, alongside new works created during Asia Week. Free and open to the public, the programme offers a welcoming space for creative participation, intercultural dialogue, and connections between communities across borders, in multiple languages, including Japanese, English, Portuguese and Chinese.