Craftivist Collective

Craftivist Collective

World map

zone of influence
Motto A spoonful of craft helps the activism go down[1]
Founded 2009
Founder Sarah Corbett
Type Social enterprise
Location
  • London, England
Members
c. 1000
Mission To expose the scandal of global poverty and human rights injustices through the power of craft and public art.
Website craftivist-collective.com

The Craftivist Collective is an activist social enterprise which uses craftivism to engage people in social justice issues. It was set up in 2009 by Sarah Corbett.[2] There are around 1000 members worldwide.[3][4] The main group is based in London[5] with around 10 further active groups.[6] The Craftivist Collective was a runner-up in the Observer Ethical Awards 2013 for the Arts & Culture Award.[7] They were named by the Times as one of their five 'New Tribes' of 2012.[8] Followers of the movement include Lauren O'Farrell,[9] Reverse graffiti artist Moose,[10] Guardian craft columnist Perri Lewis, jewellers Tatty Devine,[11] comedian Josie Long,[12] Tilly Walnes. entrant in the first series of the Great British Sewing Bee,[13] Company craft columnist and author Jazz Domino Holly,[14] and mosaic artist Carrie Reichardt.[15] Sam Roddick is a mentor to the group and suggested the honorary label 'Craptivist' to cover non-crafty supporters.[16]

There is a manifesto and a checklist of goals for the work of the group which includes being welcoming,[17] encouraging and positive,[18] creative and non-threatening,[6] and to focus on global poverty and human rights injustices[4]

About

The Craftivist Collective has been called 'guerrilla crafting',[4] as their projects often involve leaving crafted messages in public places. Their projects are often small-scale, intended to draw people in.[2] There are lists of projects to do and video tutorials online.[19] They run talks, workshops, stalls and exhibitions and sell Craftivist Collective kits and merchandise.[4]

The 'collective' is a loose term covering anyone who gets involved.[16] The group particularly seeks to engage people who haven't previously had much involvement or interest in politics and activism.[20][21] For many members the group is a stepping stone to more traditional activism methods.[22] Corbett calls it 'slow activism'[18] and 'introverted activism', saying "it's not about performance and vying for attention, it's about offering people the choice to engage".[1]

The groups hold regular meetings.[23][24] Other groups such as Women's Institutes and schools have also been involved in projects.[25] The collective is self-funded and receives donated materials from supporters.[1]

History

A self-proclaimed 'burnt-out activist' who disliked the image of the aggressive activist, but wanted to do something to change the world,[17] Sarah Corbett was involved in activism while growing up in Liverpool and then studying at the University of Manchester.[4] She worked for traditional charities for seven years.[11] It was after moving to London for a job in 2007[6] and joining various activist groups that she started getting increasingly into her hobby of cross-stitch, finding that it helped with stress.

She didn't feel like she fitted into any of the activist groups she joined in London.[2] She had been cross-stitching as a hobby since the age of 18 and in August 2008[16] had the 'light bulb' idea to combine the two.[4]

Corbett set up the Lonely Craftivist blog in 2008[4] and began receiving comments and emails from people around the world asking to join in. She held a first meeting[2] and got in touch with sociologist Betsy Greer who coined the word 'craftivism' in 2003 by.[26] Greer was encouraging[19] so Corbett founded and co-ordinated a national group called Craftivist Collective.[4] In 2012 she went part-time at her Oxfam job to devote more time to the collective,[3] and in October 2012 gave up her job to work full-time for Craftivist Collective.[26]

Activities

The group have worked with Christian Aid, One World Week,[27] Oxfam,[5][21] Save the Children,[28] People & Planet, Toms Shoes,[29] Bystander Revolution,[30] UNICEF,[31] and War on Want.[13]

They have run workshops at the Greenbelt festival, Hayward Gallery, NUS Student Conference, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Secret Cinema, Secret Garden Party, Sheffield Doc/Fest, Southbank Centre, Tate Britain, UCL, Victoria and Albert Museum/Coats,[32] Wilderness Festival and the Women's Library.[1][6][21][22][25]

The group’s work has been exhibited at the Bluecoat gallery in Liverpool,[27] the People's History Museum,[26] St Fagans museum in Cardiff,[33] and the Ulster Hall, Belfast.[34] The collective supports Fine Cell Work, a social enterprise that trains prisoners in needlework.[35][36]

Talks

Sarah Corbett has given talks about the Craftivist Collective at the British Museum,[37] Sunday Wise, TedX Brixton,[38] and the Wigtown Book Festival. She has been a guest lecturer at Parsons The New School for Design and Leeds College of Art.

Publications

A Little Book of Craftivism by Sarah Corbett was published in Autumn 2013 by Cicada Publishing, distributed by Thames & Hudson.

Media

The collective was featured on Al Jazeera in September 2013[39] and on the Canal+ television show Nouveaux Explorateurs: Megalopolis, broadcast in France in November 2011.[40][41]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Corbett, Sarah (2013). A Little Book of Craftivism. Cicada.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Charlotte Humphery, We'll change the world stitch by stitch, Oh Comely magazine
  3. 1 2 Sharon Barnard and Jameela Oberman, I use my craft skills as a tool for peace, Woman Alive, May 2012
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Jameela Oberman, Stitch in time, Big Issue in the North, 10–16 October 2011
  5. 1 2 DK Goldstein, Make a Stand, Pica Pica magazine, 2010
  6. 1 2 3 4 Holly Howe, Sarah Corbett, House, Autumn 2010
  7. ↑ Lucy Siegle, If your aim is true and good, you will succeed, The Observer Magazine, 16 June 2013
  8. ↑ The Times Saturday Review, 10 December 2011
  9. ↑ I'm a Piece, fuse.ly, retrieved 7 January 2014
  10. ↑ #imapiece says Moose, youtube.com, retrieved 7 January 2014
  11. 1 2 Karima Adi, Craftivism, Lionheart magazine, issue 4
  12. ↑ Contributors, Mollie Makes, issue 9
  13. 1 2 The Craftivist Collective's #minifashionprotest, Crafty magazine, 19 July
  14. ↑ Jazz Domino Holly, Jazz Hearts, Company, January 2012
  15. ↑ Shannon Denny, Threads of Change, Huck magazine, April/May 2012
  16. 1 2 3 Gavin, http://www.otesha.org.uk/blog/4662/diy/the-craftivism-qa.html The Craftivism Q&A, otesha.org.uk, 23 March 2012
  17. 1 2 Ruth Lewy, I get frustrated knitting socks. I want to make a difference., The Times Saturday Review, 10 December 2011
  18. 1 2 Rin Simpson, Getting crafty: a creative approach to activism, Positive News, Winter 2012
  19. 1 2 Join the collective, Mollie Makes, issue 9
  20. ↑ Learning from outside movement, NUS Get Organised, April 2012
  21. 1 2 3 Hannah Bullivant, The Craftivist Collective, http://www.ameliasmagazine.com/earth/the-craftivist-collective/2010/04/05/, 5 April 2010
  22. 1 2 Nikki Shaill, Craftivist Collective, Lady Craft zine for Ladyfest Ten, Summer 2010
  23. ↑ Wanda Caton, The art of resistance, Weekly Zaman, 21 July 2012
  24. ↑ Craftivists, RWD magazine, April 2010
  25. 1 2 Sarah Corbett-Batson, http://www.trebuchet-magazine.com/sarah-corbett-interview-part-1/ Sarah Corbett: Interview (part 1), trebuchet-magazine.com, 3 July 2013
  26. 1 2 3 Katie Harris, Meet the women quietly crafting their own revolution, telegraph.co.uk, 13 March 2013, retrieved 7 January 2014
  27. 1 2 '’And Sew To Bed official blog’’, andsewtobed.wordpress.com, retrieved 7 January 2014
  28. ↑ Rin Simpson, Crafts enthusiasts in stitch-up against world hunger, Positive News, Winter 2012
  29. ↑ Toms Pop Up Give Shop in Spitalfields, londonpopups.com, December 2012, retrieved 7 January 2014
  30. ↑ "Get Artsy w/ P.S. I Made This and Craftivist Collective". Bystander Revolution. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  31. ↑ ‘’Instructions’’, unicef.org.uk, retrieved 7 January 2014
  32. ↑ The Craft Campaign: You're A Star, vam.ac.uk, retrieved 7 January 2014
  33. ↑ What's On, museumwales.ac.uk, retrieved 7 January 2014
  34. ↑ The Craftivist Collective, visit-belfast.com, retrieved 7 January 2014
  35. ↑ Stitched Stories: a tale of subversive stitchers, vimeo.com, retrieved 7 January 2014
  36. ↑ Craftivist Collective – Craft As A Tool For Personal Transformation, mrxstitch.com, 8 December 2013. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
  37. ↑ Can craft be used to help change the world?, britishmuseum.org, 31 August 2011, retrieved 7 January 2014
  38. ↑ How a piece of fabric can change the world: Sarah Corbett at TEDxBrixton, youtube.com, 23 October 2013, retrieved 7 January 2014
  39. ↑ Workers' plight in focus at UK fashion week, aljazeera.com, 12 September 2013, retrieved 7 January 2014
  40. ↑ Jameela Oberman, Panache!, Adbusters Australia, Nov/Dec 2011
  41. ↑ London Craftivists filmed for French TV: Canal+ Nov 2011, 14 January 2012, retrieved 7 January 2014

External links

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