I thought it was interesting that craftivism has been around for pretty much all of American history. When I thought of craftivism I usually just thought of the Women’s March and “pussyhats”, but now I am aware of the historical movement that craftivism is. It makes me wonder if other countries share this history of activism through craft and in what other mediums humans have used craft to communicate social and political issues throughout time. I did wonder if craftivism is really just for certain mediums or if it is applied to all forms of tangible, creative, human creations. Like, for example, could art be seen as craftivism? I also loved the examples of Gandhi using craft as a form of resistance, as his nonviolent resistance was an example to so many activists in the future.
As I was reading the Article provided it brought many ideas I had not thought about before into my mind. Similar to what you mentioned, I had heard of only a select few events such as the Women's March, as mentioned in the article. Only I had no idea just how deep this idea of craftivism went. It was eye-opening to know that craftivism has such a long history and involvement in matters around the country. As you mentioned the thought of other countries, My first thought was how far back does craftivism go in certain cultures and societies? Was this idea of craftivism used in artwork or pottery in Roman times, just as an example, that was used to depicted societal issues and flaws? As well as this idea of how intriguing it is to understand that an activity such as knitting can have such an impact on different people in all walks of life.
Using a crafting skill as a form of activism to encourage societal change is fairly new idea to me and is something that I am now beginning to understand the history and significance of for the first time because of the reading. The use of this kind of activism is something that I had mostly associate with the Women’s March just due to the traction and widespread coverage of this march and the well known hats worn by its participants. I was also very interested to learn about the history of craft-based activism and its base in society over time because I had only recently noted it in the social movements of our time. I realized that the reading was very U.S. focused and was also kind of wondering how much a part of history this type of craftwork has been and what kind of variations of it are present in other cultures because I think it would be interesting to see how other groups of people use this type of activism to enact change in their own unique situations.
Throughout this article I was also surprised with all the information I read about craftivism and how it has been around for so long because I knew little about it; the only thing I knew of was also the women's march hats so hearing that it has been around since at least the 1800s astonishes me. It is really interesting to me that needle work can be used as a political statement because to me knitting, crocheting, and sewing have always been things I do at my leisure and I have never thought much more of it. However the more I read about it the more it made sense, back in the 1800s sewing and knitting and such was seen as a feminine thing and women had little to no rights during that period of time. It is really cool to think that women were using the thing that could have been seen as somewhat oppressing, and turn it into a positive political statement. After reading this article I feel like I also have a better understanding than before of what the women's march was all about, and how craftivism can and is used for other political statements.
Before readings the article I did not understand how knitting or just crafting in general could get any kind of point across. N0w that I have read it I am able t0 make way more sense with the topic. I understand how knitting circle can show involvement in many things that happen in the word. With the group members reading things with each other keeping the topic alive and also knitting relevant things for certain issues. For example, for women's rights, a way women could get there point across by craft was to put what they think about the situation on their art piece. These crafts were sold, donated, and often hung somewhere in the public for it to be seen. It was also brought to my attention that points you want to get across to multiple people don't have to be loud like riots but can be quiet and peaceful through crafting. The art of knitting is more powerful than anyone can imagine and this is because it is personally being made by you.