For most Greeks, embroidery is something that evokes sentimental memories of older relatives, and for many has also been a pastime of their own.

However, for Cheryl Simpson, who is currently researching towards a Masters degree in the Department of Language Studies, Modern Greek, at Flinders University, the traditional kendima holds much deeper meaning for both Greek culture and the rest of the world.

Cheryl’s project looks beyond the everyday nature of embroidery in Greek culture and seeks the meaning behind both the ritual itself and the specific designs found in various pieces created by Greeks and Greek Australians. Through interviews with women of various ages, in both Australia and Greece, she is hoping to discover the historical and cultural significance of embroidery.

Although Cheryl had studied textiles in the past, it was a trip to Greece with her husband in 2003 that sparked her interest in Greek textiles in general, and specifically Greek embroidery. While on Crete, she met the island’s last male weaver, a man called Michalis, who was happy to explain the symbolism of the various designs on carpets for sale in his showroom. Cheryl’s interest lasted, but time was not available, until very recently when she retired from her full time position as Legal Studies lecturer at Flinders University. When retirement came, so did time. Cheryl was happy to devote herself to her passion for Greek textiles and embroidery. She joined the Embroiderer’s Guild in South Australia, and now also belongs to its ethnic research group.

The Director of Studies in Modern Greek at Flinders University, Maria Palaktsoglou, then encouraged her to further pursue her interest, and so the project came about. Since the beginning of her Masters degree, she – often with translation help from her husband George Couvalis, a Lecturer in Philosophy at Flinders University – has been carrying out interviews with women eager to present their embroideries, both old and new.

And the reception she has received has been one of graciousness and hospitality: “Everyone has been so willing to help and it’s been a very humbling process for me, the generosity that’s been shown to me. It’s been huge, I really can’t tell you, it’s been wonderful.

“Any one of the textiles the women have has a story, and every time they start to talk about the textiles, all the stories open up as well. So, in part, it’s a story of moving countries, a story of what they did as children, maybe in the village they were in Greece. It’s a story of what they did here, carrying on some of those traditions that they’ve learnt when they were very little.”

In this way, Cheryl is hoping to find connections between the various stories of Greek Australian women, both those who migrated to Australia and those who were born in the country, and women in Greece. An overseas trip with her husband in March will hopefully prove fruitful, as she plans to carry out numerous interviews with women from many areas of Greece. She also plans to visit folk museums while overseas.

One discovery Cheryl has made through her research thus far, is that while all pieces of embroidery made or owned by the women she has interviewed hold special significance for them, other textiles, including traditional dress and crocheted pieces, are similarly treasured. Of all of these she says: “There’s a lot of love that goes into the stitching, particularly if something’s been prepared for the prika and these have been handed down in the family, and in many cases these women that I’ve been talking to have these in their trunks still.

“Sometimes they’ll have things when older women have made them when they were nine, for example, and have been brought over with them either when they’ve come to Australia or afterwards during some of their trips back to Greece.”

Some of the pieces Cheryl has seen have been sole items taken by women when forced to leave Greece in times of war, thus demonstrating their preciousness. Added to the personal stories, are the specific designs found on the embroidery, with symbols such as the pomegranate, denoting fertility, or the tree of life telling a story far beyond the everyday life of the women who have created them.

This is one aim of her project – to see how symbolism tells the story of Greek politics, culture and history through these pieces, and how embroideries from specific areas of Greece compare with pieces from other areas. Although in the early stages of her thesis, Cheryl has already observed the passion Greek women hold for their pieces of embroidery as precious relics of their past, as well as that of Greece itself. She is looking forward to her future discoveries through this project, into what she describes as “the thread of life”.