craftivism

What can you do if you want to be a gentle, careful, strategic activist? The kind who catalyses change in empathic ways, who strives to understand people in power and who uses the magic of hand-crafts to connect at the level where (r)evolution happens?  Sarah Corbett of the Craftivist Collective does exactly this and empowers others to join her.

At the age of three years old, Sarah Corbett occupied social housing to keep it standing (it's still up), and from then on, was a committed activist at the local, national and international level, first with her parents, and then later, as part of wider activist movements.  But as an introvert, and a deep strategic thinker, she wanted to make change in ways that were gentle, but powerful,  harnessing the power of connection, rather than outrage and confrontation.
Founder the Craftivist Collective, she has spend the past fifteen years empowering crafts-people around the world to harness the power of their creativity, their clear intent, and their capacity to connect with lawmakers at all levels from the C-Suite of major retailers to MPs and civil servants - finding their humanity, and becoming a critical friend rather than another source of outraged triggers.

Sarah’s work has helped change government laws, business policies as well as hearts and minds through her unique ‘Gentle Protest’ methodology. She works across the arts sector, charity sector and academia, as well as with unusual allies to reach people nervous of activism in an attractive and empowering way. Corbett regularly gives talks, events and happenings around the world. Her book “How To Be A Craftivist: the art of gentle protest” is now available in paperback. Her talk ‘Activism Needs Introverts’ was chosen as a TED Talk of the Day and has over a million views.

In this episode, she talks us through from the beginnings of the Craftivist Collective with a letter to an MP embroidered on a handkerchief, to the summer-long campaign of the Canary Craftivists, focusing on the goals and ideals that bring people together from grandmothers to grand daughters, to seasoned WI campaigners, to first time activists finding a voice for their climate concern that doesn't involve banners, chants and confrontation with the security forces. 

Craftivist Collective Website
https://craftivist-collective.com

Become a Patron
https://craftivist-collective.com/adopt-a-craftivist

Sarah's Manual
https://unbound.com/books/craftivist/

Pre-Order Sarah's new book
https://unbound.com/books/craftivist-collective-handbook/

An interview with award-winning campaigner Sarah Corbett, the founder of the Craftivist Collective, an inclusive group of people committed to using craft to help themselves and encourage others to be the positive change they wish to see in the world. Sarah's deeply-thoughtful campaign work is a beguiling mix of activism and philosophy or 'way of life' - fulfilling a need for a different form of activism, particularly relevant for any of us that feel permanently on the brink of frustrated burnout. As she asks. "If we want our world to be more beautiful, kind and fair, can we make our activism be more beautiful, kind and fair? If there’s time for the loud, there’s also time for the quiet. If there’s time for the fast, there’s also a need for the slow. In everyone’s heart is a desire to change things for the better – it is essential that there is an activists toolkit that is as diverse as humanity."

Over the summer Sarah launched a new project centred on climate change, the Canary Craftivists, which we'll be looking at in more depth later on in the conversation, but I began by quoting back to her a paragraph on the back of the beautiful book - or manual (and more of that latter too) - that she has produced from that campaign which asks “are you worried about global warming and anxious about taking part in large or loud forms of activism? If you’re more of an eco-worrier than eco-warrior then this manual is for you."

• Craftivist Collective  Website
• Craftivist Collective on Instagram, on Facebook, and on Twitter
• To sponsor Sarah please go to craftivist-collective.com/adopt-a-craftivist

Suzie Warren, a craftivist who decided that instead of raging about the state of the world, she would ‘do what she could’. And what she does is to make, witty, beautiful and ‘polite’, very English acts of protest.

 'Stitch it don't ditch it' has grown into a global movement protesting against the environmental damage the fashion industry causes, creating connection, community, awareness and teaching people new skills.

You can join crafivists across the globe during Sustainable Fashion Week by stitching on your street at 12.30pm on Tuesday 14th September. Details at streetstiching.com

To get your hands on some beautifully bonkers gifts for your friends and family go to twistedtwee.co.uk and you can find Suzi on Instagram at @twistedtwee and at @streetstiching

I'd love to hear your response to this conversation over on Instagram  where I'm @kate_codrington and don't forget to have a look at my website where you'll find a wealth of free resources.

You will find the podcast on Spotify, iTunes and all major platforms, just search for 'Life - An Inside Job'. 

If you enjoyed the episode yourself, then it would be fab if you shared it with a friend or with your community on social media.

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Trust Me (instrumental) by RYYZN
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Artwork
Portrait by Lori Fitzdoodles

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Music
Trust Me (instrumental) by RYYZN

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Kate's portrait by Lori Fitzdoodles

Hello there! Although Making Stitches is supposedly on a summer break, here's a little bonus episode all about a project I've been involved with recently which began with a previous episode of this podcast. Back in May, I released Episode 25 of Making Stitches which featured a chat I had with Sarah Corbett from the Craftivist Collective. In it, she told me about her plan for a summer of 'craftivism' featuring flocks of Canary Craftivists staging public displays of crafting to raise awareness of environmental issues ahead of this year's Cop 26 climate summit in Glasgow.

Galvanized by Sarah's infectious enthusiasm, I found myself co-ordinating a small flock of canary craftivists in Manchester. This episode is the story of how it came about and how it went. Blighted by the 'pingdemic' our flock was small but, dare I say it(?), perfectly formed and we were able to engage passers-by in our craft and the message behind it. I do hope you enjoy listening!

If you would like to find out more about the Canary Craftivists and the Craftivist Collective please visit the Craftivist Collective website, Instagram  or Twitter.

For full show notes for this episode, please visit the Making Stitches website.
The music featured in this episode is Make You Smile by RGMusic from Melody Loops.

You can support Making Stitches Podcast with running costs through Ko-fi.

Making Stitches Podcast is presented, recorded and edited by Lindsay Weston.

A chance conversation about a small embroidery project while on a long train journey led Sarah Corbett to unite her interest in craft with her passion for activism. Sarah says that at the time of that conversation, while working on a cross-stitch kit during a 5-hour-long train trip, she was feeling burned out by her job as an activist. But she realised there was a way to marry the mindfulness of stitching and other crafts with getting important messages across and supporting the under represented in society.

Sarah now single-handedly runs The Craftivist Collective and has engaged thousands of crafters from around the world (including the inspirational change-maker Malala Yousafzai) in creating their own acts of gentle protest on a range of issues from climate change to women's rights and the campaign for a living wage.

You can find out more about The Craftivist Collective and sign up to The Craftivist Collective newsletter here.

Craftivist Collective on Instagram
Craftivist Collective on Twitter

My sincere thanks to Sarah Corbett for speaking to me for Making Stitches Podcast.

For full show notes for this episode, please visit the Making Stitches website.
The music featured in this episode is Make You Smile by RGMusic from Melody Loops.

You can support Making Stitches Podcast with running costs through Ko-fi.

Making Stitches Podcast is presented, recorded and edited by Lindsay from Postcard from Gibraltar.

We're showcasing women's history in gaming, leadership, and writing in this month's episode of Using our Library Voices.  Our librarians explore a bit of the history and controversy behind Gamergate, meet children's book author Dr. Raquel Ortiz, and learn about the women-led Craftivism movement within Maker Spaces. 

You can find Dr. Raquel Ortiz's books here and please join us for our bilingual virtual program
this month on Facebook  or on our virtual programs website www.hcpl.net/services/virtualprograms

Craftivism Books mentioned in this podcast:
Fesity Felties by Missy Covington
Be the Change by Eunice and Sabrina Moyle
Crafting the Resistance by Lara Neel and Heather Marano

Special thank you to our guest: Raquel Ortiz
Learn more about her here: Arte Publico Press
Sofi Paints Her Dreams teaching guide: Sofi-Paints-Her-Dreams_4-08-19.pdf (artepublicopress.com)

Featured staff in this episode include: Elizabeth Burton, Darcy Casavant, Nicole Hindmon,Jennifer Finch, Ellen Kaluza, Lauren Peters, Rebbeca Trent, and Sadina Shawver

This episode was hosted by Ellen Kaluza and was edited by  Nicole Hindmon and Beth Kripple

Created by the Podcast Team at the Harris County Public Library.
www.hcpl.net

Podcast Team Members include: Beth Krippel, John Harbaugh, Mary Mink, Lana Sell, Ellen Kaluza, Sadina Shawver, Gisella Parker, Kara Ludwig, Delaney Daly, Jennifer Finch, Katelyn Helberg, Logan Tuttle, Darcy Casavant, Darla Pruitt and Nancy Hu

Original Music created by Bryan Kratish

Sarah Corbett is an award-winning campaigner and author. She began her career in activism at the ripe old age of three and went on to have a successful career working for NGOs including Christian Aid, Oxfam and the UK Government Department for International Development. 

However, her life took a different turn in 2009, when she created the Craftivist Collective, which champions ‘gentle protesting’ and ‘slow activism’, often using stitching and embroidery as a fundamental part of its process. 

Since then the organisation has grown in size and has thousands of members, while Sarah has delivered talks and lectures around the globe, launched a slew of successful campaigns and worked with the likes of the V&A, Secret Cinema and Unicef. She has also done a TEDx talk that has been seen by more than a million people. 

In this episode we talk about: the art and strategy behind gentle protesting; why she became disillusioned with traditional forms of activism; picking up her first cross-stitch kit; the importance of beauty; successfully lobbying the board of M&S; and her problem with Pussyhats.