This project explores how menopause shapes women’s lives and relationships, with a focus on the Polish cultural and social. Although menopause is usually treated as a medical issue, the research approaches it as a broader life transition that affects how women see themselves, relate to others, and navigate social expectations. Using feminist methodologies, ethics of care, and participatory design, the project looks at how women make sense of this transition and what kinds of support or understanding they need. Conversations with women showed that menopause is something they manage on several levels at once: internally, through shifts in identity and bodily change; within their close relationships; and in relation to wider structures like healthcare and society. Across these layers, women described not only silence but a lack of mental and emotional space to process what they are going through. This pointed to a need for tools that make conversations about menopause easier.

In response, the project developed a mother–daughter conversation kit that uses embroidery as a medium for slowing down, paying attention, and talking while making something together. Inspired by ideas such as Tim Ingold’s “making as knowing” and Donna Haraway’s “making kin,” the kit treats craft not only as a technique but as a way of relating. Testing the kit with mother–daughter pairs in Warsaw showed that it helped open up conversations that would not have happened otherwise. Participants described the process as intimate, grounding, and surprisingly nice once they began. They also saw potential for the kit to be used beyond family relationships, in community or workplace settings.

Rather than offering a final answer, the project suggests a different way of approaching menopause—one that values connection, shared time, and everyday forms of care. It asks whether talking about menopause could become less of a taboo and more of a normal part of life when supported by gentle, culturally grounded tools.