Reception for Wounds We Wear: Exhibition by Mahwish Chishty

 

September 10–October 15, 2026

 

Herter Gallery, Thursday, September 10, 5–8 PM

 

Parking at UMass Amherst does not require a permit after 5:00 PM.

 

We are pleased to invite you to the opening of Wounds We Wear, an ongoing community-based project by Professor Mahwish Chishty.

 

Please join us for an evening of art, conversation, and community as we gather to experience a project that explores the emotional and societal impact of modern warfare in the United States.

 

Centered on the question, “How do you feel about the current wars?”, the project brings together responses from members of the community, translating their thoughts and feelings into symbolic embroidered patches. Created through shared drawing, embroidery, and conversation, these patches are sewn onto a repurposed Vietnam War-era U.S. Air Force uniform, transforming it into a collective portrait of our psychological landscape amid ongoing and distant conflicts.

 

The exhibition invites us to consider how war is carried, remembered, and expressed—not only by those directly involved in conflict, but by communities living with its consequences from a distance.

 

 

As part of the project, Mahwish Chishty will host eight public embroidery circles in the gallery from 1–3 PM, inviting visitors to participate in the making of the work. 

 

 

Friday, September 11

Tuesday, September 15

Friday, September 18

Tuesday, September 22

Thursday, September 24

Tuesday, September 29

Thursday, October 1

Tuesday, October 6

 

Wounds We Wear will remain on view through October 15, 2026, and will continue to evolve through new participants, stories, and conversations.

 

Funding provided by the Chancellor’s Community, Democracy, and Dialogue (CDD) working group.