Womb Chair Speaks was started in 2018 by Kirin Joya Makker, Professor of American Studies at Hobart William Smith Colleges. During its first year, she worked with two students, Ainsley Rhodes and
Abbey Frederick to develop the project’s research, aesthetics, and participatory methodology. During 2020 and 2021, the trio wrote and published a collaborative article about Womb Chair Speaks for Art Journal.
In 2021, Professor Makker began teaching a seminar, “Gender, Space and Narrative Reparation,” to support the ongoing work of Womb Chair Speaks. The course teaches hand sewing skills in a series of independent creative projects and guides students through the supportive theory and research of Womb Chair Speaks, engaging the class community in stitching as feminist cultural practice. In the last month of the course, students work on Womb Chair Speaks in stitching sessions.
Abbey Frederick, Kirin Makker, and Ainsley Rhodes installing Womb Chair Speaks at Winterthur Museum, 2024