THE CRAFTIVIST COLLECTIVE

On Sunday 11th May I went to an event at the Victoria & Albert Museum organised by the Craftivist Collective. In the lead up to Refugee Week, this craftivism workshop was an occasion to think about how we perceive and portray our own identity and the identity of others through craft and informal discussions.

Craftivism is a cross between craft and activism, or using craft like stitching, knitting, crocheting to put social concerns across in the urban environment and unusual locations. If you want to know more about the collective, please visit: www.craftivist-collective.com. They are also on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/CraftivistCollective?fref=ts
                           
The Craft campaign "Where do you belong?" had chosen the V&A to help us to meditate on the plight of refugees whilst stitching our own luggage tag to keep or leave somewhere as provocative street art. Issues such as how would it feel to be a refugee and what personal baggage we put on others were the inspiration to the various slogans, symbols and thoughts which were going to be stitched onto these tags.

The workshop ran from 11 am to 4 pm, free to drop in at any time. When I arrived at 1 pm, I was surprised to see that not only it was packed, but it was full of young and highly colourful women; they reminded me of the post punk scene in the early 80's. A few children, older women and even a couple of guys were also making up the attendance.

We were given a calico luggage tag each. We had to embroider our name on one side, our message on the other, and then stitch the two together. I thought it would be a matter of an hour. It turned out that I got into deep conversation with the young volunteer I was stitching with about my own experience of life as an immigrant and displaced citizen. My journey isn't over, so my message on my tag read "Where next?".
                                

It was an emotional experience and the hours passed so quickly that I had to finish the assembling stitching on the tube and the bus. that's the first time I had sewn anything on the move in public!

This was a great day and I'm glad to learn that the craftivist Collective is organising another event on 7th September at the V&A again. The Mini Protest Banner session will be all about global poverty and human rights injustices. Whilst making our own colourful mini cross- stitched banner, we will have the opportunity to reflect upon issues we care about in a social setting.
                                

When completed, we can hang our banner in arelevant public space to engage others in the fight for a fairer world. I am looking forward to this workshop. If you want to participate, just drop in at the V&A learning centre on the third floor, it's free. For more information, visit: www.craftivist-collective.com.
They also have shop on Etsy:  https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/craftivistcollective?ref=pr_faveshops