When you think of protest your mind steers towards cardboard signs and megaphones, but have you ever considered that a knitting needle could encompass the same power?
Craftivism is a tool of activism that sits alongside the more widely known methods of protest that can be used to give people a voice. However, this form of protest is quite different in many ways from how it looks to the way it spreads a message. Though it is gentle and positive it is by no means less effective.
The craftivist collective was set up by Sarah Corbett and has grown a collective of over 12,000 people. They sell kits, arrange events and run campaigns to change injustices within our society.
One of the most notable campaigns that they completed was getting Marks and Spencer to pay a fair and livable wage to its 50,000 employees. They stitched personalised messages into handkerchiefs for each board member and presented them as gifts at a board meeting. Within 10 months Marks and Spencer changed the pay of their employees. Impressive right?
‘My approach is not aggressive or loud, it’s gentle protest – and I mean that in a non-fluffy sense. It’s not impassive or weak. It’s bloody hard to be gentle in your approach as an activist, to have self-control when you’re angry. It’s about being tough of mind and kind in heart.”
Sarah Corbett the founder of the Craftivist Collective
We’d love to hear your thoughts on this topic by dropping a comment below. If this has tingled your crafty taste buds, check out some of our creative classes and put your mind to the test. You never know one day you might change the world.