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the process of making, and caring that the outcome makes a difference. Some craftivists knit booties for premature infants, chemo caps for cancer patients or helmet liners for soldiers. Some craftivists yarnbomb their local park to make it more beautiful. Some craftivists make protest banners (a la The Craftivist Collective)and put them up on the high street. Some craftivists make scarves and leave them around town for the needy and/or homeless to find. Some craftivists make sock monkeys to give to kids who have no toys who are sick or in need of comfort (a la Operation Sock Monkey). And that’s just the shortlist.
Craftivists are people who care about others and want to use their creative skills to make the lives of others better, whether the aim is to comfort them, make them think, make them smile or keep them warm. Over the years I’ve knitted items and donated them to charities, knitted squares for group blankets to be donated,even made items for loved ones that are going through rough times. I’ve also been making cross stitch pieces based on anti-war graffiti from around the world off and on for the past 7 years. I started this project as a way to show that war is something that people all over the world are against, that the voices of the people (via graffiti)are anti-war, differing from the voices of the few that start wars (politicians, governments, rogue factions). This work has been shown in books, in galleries, on web sites around the world. What I like about it is that it is very vocal about being against war, while not being confrontational. If people want to ask me about why I made the work, we can then engage in a conversation similar to one that might be had at a traditional marching, chanting protest, but with less yelling, more dialogue and more peace.
I like the subversion of the paradigm that occurs when people ask me about my work - how it becomes a dialogue opened without my even having to open my mouth. www.craftism.com