'Every stitch is a life': Leeds volunteers hand-embroider Gaza's dead ahead of Minster memorial

Highlights

• Stitch Their Names Together features more than 50,000 hand-stitched names from a global network of volunteers.
• Leeds volunteer Viv Anderson stitched more than 220 names from her home in Gledhow.
• The memorial opens at Leeds Minster on September 10 and remains on display until September 20.

Leeds Minster will host a large-scale memorial featuring more than 50,000 hand-stitched names of Palestinians reported killed in Gaza.

Stitch Their Names Together brings together 283 completed panels created by more than 400 volunteers across 35 countries. Volunteers in Leeds and Sheffield have contributed hundreds of names to the project.

A stitch for every name

The project was started in March 2024 by textile artist Mary Evers, who spent part of her childhood in Palestine and has Palestinian relatives.

Leeds volunteer Viv Anderson stitched more than 220 names from her home in GledhowStitch Their Names Together

Each panel features 182 names, with different thread colours used to identify women, men and children. Leeds volunteer Viv Anderson stitched more than 220 names across two panels from her home in Gledhow.

Speaking about the experience, Anderson said the process felt like "spending time with a person who is gone", as the reality behind the names became increasingly difficult to separate from the work.

The memorial opens at Leeds Minster on September 10 Stitch Their Names Together

A memorial comes to Leeds

The exhibition is being co-hosted by the Leeds Palestinian Film Festival, which said the project reflects its focus on humanising people behind the headlines.

Festival director Jane Stageman described the memorial as a collective act of mourning and solidarity, connecting the textile project with the festival's wider work around Palestinian stories and culture.

When can you see it?

Evers will attend the official opening at Leeds Minster at 3.30 pm on Thursday, September 10. The memorial will be free to visit from 11 am to 2 pm daily, except Monday, September 14, until Sunday, September 20. A poetry and reflection session will also take place at the Minster on Saturday, September 12.