Discovering Craftivist Work Online

First of all, isn’t this xstitch piece lovely? It’s by Flickr user gothcomic, who kindly let me repost this here!

gothcomic

Secondly, I’ll admit it. I was already to ignore Pinterest, like, forever. But… I had a look the other day and realized just how many craftivism boards there were! Whoa! A few craftivist projects that Pinterest introduced to me the other day:

Jerilea Zempel’s Guns and Rosettes from an old We Make Money Not Art blog post.

zempel

This piece of work (with apparent misspelling) from Solamenterocio about stopping evictions.

solamenteraciono

This guerrilla doily that was posted over at Lanina Bipolar.

guerrilladoily

This pin introduced me a lovely list of Powerful Projects:

powerfulprojects

Along with repinning other people’s pins, I also pinned a bunch of craftivist-related work of people from around the world, including the political work of Hannah Ryggen:

ryggen

And Rosita Johansen:

rosita johansen

You can find all these wonderful things (and more!) pinned on my craftivism Pinterest board and on the craftivism boards of others!

Wanna follow me on Pinterest? You can find me here.

Also, I’ve posted this before, but Pinterest reminded me of it again, this lovely video of some public stitching from Miss Cross Stitch. You can read some lovely interview with her here.

Source: youtube.com via Betsy on Pinterest

Have a piece of craftivist work that you’d like to share with me? Either tell me about it in the comments or post it over on your own craftivism Pinterest board!

Craftivism: Party of One

Lately I’ve been getting a lot of emails where people have been frustrated about not having a group to ‘do craftivism’ with. As someone who sent emails just like that until a few years ago, I can tell you, being frustrated is seriously not going to get you very far.

However, action will. And if you really want to call yourself a ‘craftivist,’ it’s not about joining a group or creating a circle or whatever. It’s about YOU wanting something to change. It’s about YOU wanting to make the world a better place. It’s about YOU wanting to make yourself a better person.

You could knit a blanket for soldiers or your sick aunt or homeless dogs or homeless people or refugees or a local family whose house burnt down. You could make a tree cozy for that tree in front of that really ugly abandoned building. You could xstitch a headline or a quote or an image of something that grabbed you and resonated with you about change/changing the world. You could then post it in your bedroom or place it on a park bench or downtown.

Because, at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter. What does matter is that you foment change and/or healing. Like I stated above, to be an activist is to create change. To be a crafter is (in a fundamental way) to heal/soothe/bring joy/teach others. Whenever you combine those two, you are a craftivist.

It’s about bringing light and joy and beauty in your life, the lives of those you know, and/or the lives of those you don’t. There’s no one way to ‘do craftivism’ or be a craftivist. If someone tells you different, then they are actually practicing some other -ism, because it sure as hell isn’t the one that I’ve been writing and talking about all these years.

Sometimes craftivist pieces heal you in the making. It’s important not to overlook that, I think. Because changing you is its own kind of activism, because it’s about not accepting the status quo, it’s about taking the reins and taking charge of your own actions. Because as you change, you become an evangelist for change in others, not only by your words, but also by your actions.

If you’re improving things along the way and including craft in this change, you’re being a craftivist. You’re spreading the good word, in a non-confrontational way, and letting people decide if they want to get on the bandwagon or not. With your enthusiasm, you’re empowering them to make changes and maybe even eventually include their creativity in with those changes.

So, take heart, and don’t get discouraged if you are the only craftivist around. That doesn’t mean you can’t act, it means you have even more reason to act! You have more people to inspire with your actions and have more work to do than those of us in towns with craftivist groups or collectives. Activism brings change. Craft brings healing. Craftivism brings healing change.

So, go forth and be crafty, in whatever way you want to be. You don’t have to call yourself a craftivist even, but do know that with your creations, you’re helping foment change without even opening your mouth. And that, my friend, is a very powerful thing, indeed.