Phew, finally all the Christmas and New Year's Eve shenanigans are over and done with so it's time we get our stuff together and re-focus on our craft work!
It's also come to our attention that this January is our 10th anniversary! Yes can you believe it that Craft Guerrilla has officially been going since 2008?!
In fairness a lot of time has been taken off recently due to personal reasons -mainly health and family!- so it has been a bit of a long exhausting road with many bumps and hoops which have been suitably jumped through but it's also been one where many new friendships and new partnerships have been forged plus we've been part of lots of amazing projects too!
By focusing again on the initial manifesto it's taken me back to the "workshops for the masses" idea and to the belief that craft is something powerful and should be available to all. Plus exploring craft as therapy was something I'd still like to work on.
You've probably heard the expression "Flow" and that's how we wanna roll!
It's a state similar to meditation which can usually be experienced when performing a repetitive action, like in knitting, crochet and embroidery for example and that promotes mindful reflection. And also because we are a bit of a raucous bunch we wanted to sink our teeth back into subversive crafting and getting involved with a few more guerrilla style activities.
Although we're currently focused on craft therapy through the creation of flow workshops to promote wellbeing we know that craft workshops are also a great way to start your very own making adventure by learning new skills so it's open to anyone and everyone not just to those who are looking for a wellness fix!
More and more I see how important the role of making has become, how it connects us to others and to our environment so yes... 2018 is going to be chockablock full of creativity and awesomeness!
Plus we're also looking into possibly of reintroducing our highly popular and successful Designer Maker Markets... we hope you can join us on our adventure! For now it's all in motion and we promise to tell you more as soon as we can...
So in brief 2018 sees Craft Guerrilla teaming up with an exciting new venture so keep those peepers peeled as we'll be announcing our workshop diary and more very soon!
Our appetite for cheap fashion not only has continued to impoverish
workers, put their lives at risk but also adds to the landfill and does
little to wean us off our mass produced addiction.
Having the newest fashions on our back counts little especially if that
pretty little dress is tainted with metaphorical blood -or in this case not so metaphorical.
Over 1000 people -many women and children- died in Rana Plaza in April 2013 yet most are still waiting for any form of justice or compensation.
1,138 pins... one for each life lost in Rana Plaza. 1,138 and counting @AlkeSchmidt
Alke Schmidt is an artist who addresses these same points adding a voice to the workers through her art work inviting us to consider the contradictions and ambiguities of a trade that spans centuries.
Poignant and beautiful her works are a reflection of her concern and care with the issue of sustainable fashion and our collective responsibilities rather then offering us a definite political statement.
Her exhibition of paintings, mixed media pieces and some collaborative works with local students and the artist Della Rees at the William Morris gallery felt like a natural extension to Mr. Morris' philosophies and politics but on a global stage. The often violent and brutal complexities of the textile industry, particularly the cotton trade, is highlighted through stitched, painted and printed work expanding through the decades up to the present day.
I think had he been around now that he would definitely be standing alongside Alke fighting the injustices experienced by workers in the garment trade!
Unfortunately the exhibition Tangled Yarns ends this Sunday the 1st of February but if you can go before then I urge you to go and have a look for yourself!
Alke's work left me inspired, moved and able to ask questions and demand change... though it's not an unfamiliar subject to me because the whole concept of Craft Guerrilla was born as a response to the unfair and immoral way workers in sweat shops are undervalued and exploited in the name of affordable fashion and consumerism.
Yet almost 10 years on these injustices still continue!
Sadly the term sweat shop has its roots further back in history as the term is a deviation from "sweater shop" used in New York city back in the 1800s for garment workers who toiled in cramped, unsafe conditions at the hands of uncaring employers literally sweating due to those conditions.
It's sad that the term still exists at all but it shows how little has changed.
Sure, slowly things are improving but is it enough to expect the High Street to carry all the responsibility?
Personally I think it also falls on to us and though I don't agree that boycotting is the answer - offering the prospect of unemployment to these workers is hardly the answer either! - I do think we need to demand clothing companies to investigate and invest in the whole process from field to factory to shop floor.
Write a letter to those High Street clothing companies and show your support for those workers and also to them and how you'd like to see a positive change in the way they do business.
Recycle, up-cycle and mend your garments plus make a conscientious effort to buy less cheap clothing and instead save up for quality items which you know will last! Also make a point to seek out a company's ethical credentials... after all it's your money so you should. It's your right!
Take it to social media! Apply pressure to companies you know are exploiting workers or working with factories that are and ask them to take action. After Rana Plaza Matalan believed they had no responsibility to the workers yet through twitter campaigning they did step up and provided a compensation package.
Ask questions! Empower yourself with the knowledge that you are making a difference by asking the right questions (How can you afford to sell such cheap clothing? for example), it might not be necessarily a comfortable subject to think/talk about but the right questions can promote thought, discussion and ultimately a change.
“There are no foolish questions and no man becomes a fool until he has stopped asking questions.”
Charles Proteus Steinmetz
Here's a short film interview of Alke by documentary filmmaker Leah Borromeo.
I hope you'll agree in saying that she is an amazing woman and artist...
We salute you Alke!!!
If you'd like to know more about the artist please visit:
https://www.a-n.co.uk/blogs/tangled-yarns
It's with a heavy heart that e announce the cancellation of the Obscuritones at the May the 1st event at the Camden Crawl! Due to a massive miscommunication we're unable to offer you what is the main attraction of the "Craftivista Social Club" the live music! You'd think people,especially ones in the music business would get the pun...but anyway...let's just say that it's very frustrating when you write a proposal,talk and the phone,email over all the details and then at the last minute someone tells you it's not possible to have a band. Unfortunately the band have given up their time and where expecting to play so that kind of leaves us...the middle person...in the "bad guy" position. Never fear though...we know the Obscuritones pretty well so they will be playing with us again at a later date at our own event. BUT we do have two very fine DJ's *cough cough* one being myself or my disc spinning alter ego Handsome Betty and Jerome Anderson...or as I like to call him "The Bomber". We'll be spinning some good old vintage tunes with a few trashy tracks thrown in for good measure...it is after all Camden so our eclectic choice of music will fit right in! We'll also be making a very cute special edition Cassette Badge pin celebrating the right for bands to make a living by a) not paying venues to be able to pay and b)receiving a fair whack of the ticket sales money. Hasta lo primeiro de Maio! Viva la revolucion!!!
The organisers of the G20 Climate Camp in the City are taking action on climate change and are taking to the streets in protest to show how a gathering of people can make a change. They have asked that people come out to ‘transform’ the financial district with theatre, music, and craft and hopefully have a peaceful but powerful protest.
Craft Guerrillas this is your chance to get a little knitting anarchy started! Why not knit a few "bombs"(made with lots of love,of course,we are a peaceful bunch!), tag some lamp posts, trees,etc...lets knit "the man" a big soft, woolly HUG! Love and peas to you all!
