TEXTILE

Cloth and Culture

ISSN: 1475-9756 (Print) 1751-8350 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rftx20

Crocheted Strategies: Women Crafting their Own

Communities

Janis Jefferies

To cite this article: Janis Jefferies (2016) Crocheted Strategies: Women Crafting their Own
Communities, TEXTILE, 14:1, 14-35, DOI: 10.1080/14759756.2016.1142788

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Published online: 13 Jun 2016.

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Own Communities
Women Crafting their
Crocheted Strategies:
 Abstract

I n 1987 Virago Press published

Women and Craft. Su Richardson
was one of the co-editors and
implication from a distinctly
feminist point of view. The
exhibition included the iconic
contributed an interview with crocheted ‘full English’, in which
Gaie Davidson called “Crocheted the womanly skill of crochet
Strategies: A New Audience for is used against the grain, to
Women’s Work.” The book was express in a humorous manner
an outcome of the Feminist Arts a growing dissatisfaction with
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News 1981 “Craft” issue which patriarchal gender roles, and

raised a number of questions also to challenge the hierarchical
about the relative status of crafts division between art and craft.
and arts and the value-level
derived from women’s assigned This article explores the relevance
status as “other” than artist. of these ideas in the context of
In turn, this emerged out of the recent resurgence in craft,
Feministo, a postal art project particularly in textiles and
instigated by Kate Walker from particularly amongst the indie
1975–1978. Women who trained crafters and activists who are
in art schools in the 1960s and able to refer to feminist histories
1970s, such as Su Richardson, and practices yet not feel bound
Monica Ross, and Walker, by them. On the other hand,
communicated with each other handcrafting can be mobilized
in the media of domestic crafts, as a statement on domestic roles
sewing, knitting, and crochet to firmly based within the language
represent their lives and work of empowerment and enacted
from within the home. through collaborative practice-
Alexandra M. Kokoli, curator of based work encompassing
the exhibition of Richardson’s several disciplines, social media
work “Burnt Breakfast” and other and public engagement. Forty
Works (2012), wrote in the press years on there is another kind of
release of the same title that: news from the crafts community,
propelled by social media and a
JANIS JEFFERIES
Janis Jefferies is Professor of Visual Arts
Su Richardson’s homemade renewed interest in the politics of
at Goldsmiths, University of London. She objects explore domesticity, crafting but not necessarily the
is a founder member of Textile: The Journal femininity and their mutual crafting of politics.
of Cloth and Culture, and is researching
electronic communication in cloth and the
“The Re-Enchantment of Cloth” (with Barbara
Layne, Concordia University, Canada). Recent Keywords: craftivsm, communities, politics, feminism, social media
publications include: “Pattern, Patterning,
Probe” in Inventive Methods: The Happening
of the Social, edited by Celia Lury and Nina
Wakeford (Routledge, 2012). She was co-curator Textile, Volume 14, Issue 1, pp. 14–35
of the Hangzhou Triennial of Textile Art in China DOI: 10.1080/14759756.2016.1142788
(2013) and is one of three editors, with Diana Reprints available directly from the Publishers.
Wood Conroy (Australia) and Hazel Clark (USA) Photocopying permitted by licence only.
of The Handbook of Textile Culture (Bloomsbury, © 2016 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor &
2015). Francis Group
[email protected] Printed in the United Kingdom
 Crocheted Strategies:
Women Crafting their Own
Communities

As a young woman and painting what art and which artists were to
student in the early 1970s, there be “valued” (Lippard 1995: 40).As a
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were many arguments and anxie- young woman and painting student
ties around what made art, art. The in the early 1970s, there were many
desire to retrieve women’s work arguments and anxieties around
from neglect and the “female” what made art, art. The desire
category to which it was usually to retrieve women’s work from
assigned, profoundly affected neglect and the “female” category
my thinking and making for the to which it was usually assigned,
subsequent decades. After locating profoundly affected my thinking
a much sought after copy of Art and and making for the subsequent
Sexual Politics, I read avidly “Why decades. After locating a much
Have There Been No Great Women sought after copy of Art and Sexual
Artists?” (Nochlin 1971). Linda Politics, I read avidly “Why Have
Nochlin’s argument went like this: There Been No Great Women
decorative tasks were the work of Artists?” (Nochlin 1971). Linda
women and those endeavors were Nochlin’s argument went like this:
not only seen as domestic, but decorative tasks were the work of
more importantly, as amateurish women and those endeavors were
(Nochlin 1971: 166). An immediate not only seen as domestic, but
subscription to Spare Rib ensured more importantly, as amateurish
that I was empowered to make (Nochlin 1971: 166). An immediate
change.1 In the early 1970s, women subscription to Spare Rib ensured
artists and activists demonstrated that I was empowered to make
at museums and exposed the change.1 In the early 1970s, women
sexist practices of galleries and artists and activists demonstrated
art schools. Women visual artists at museums and exposed the
and art historians formed groups sexist practices of galleries and
raising awareness, while women’s art schools. Women visual artists
art organizations and cooperative and art historians formed groups
galleries strove to provide the raising awareness, while women’s
visibility that they had been denied art organizations and cooperative
(Harrison 1977: 214). There was a galleries strove to provide the
collective effort to explore the kind visibility that they had been denied
of art women made when creating (Harrison 1977: 214). There was a
from their own life experiences, collective effort to explore the kind
and this led to a call for a re-exam- of art women made when creating
ination of the criteria that defined from their own life experiences,
 Crocheted Strategies 17
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Figure 1
Su Richardson, Burnt Breakfast, 1976. Exhibited as part of “Burnt Breakfast” and other works by Su Richardson, curated by
Alexandra M. Kokoli. David Ramkalawon, photographer, Constance Howard Gallery, Goldsmiths, University of London,
UK.

and this led to a call for a re-exam- and gay liberation defined the cul- of what was made, but the radical
ination of the criteria that defined ture of the 1960s and 1970s. There spirit of the age was very apparent
what art and which artists were to were visible signs of a fundamental in the challenges entailed in the
be “valued” (Lippard 1995: 40). revolution taking place in British content of the work, how work was
The potentially radical yet society. People, (and the 1960s made, where it was seen and how
problematic promotion of wom- generation was a culture of youth, it was received.
en’s “traditional” arts in textiles as the post-war baby boomer came For example, the use of a
and other craft-related processes of age), in their clothes, music, and domestic, aesthetic, a personal life
enabled not only a distancing opinions, were reacting to the con- story, and textile based craft pro-
from an aesthetics of the “purely” servatism of the previous genera- cesses and techniques provided an
visual, but also provided a strategy tion and questioning the political unusually productive and critical
for mobilizing textiles as a weapon and social structures by which that space for a post-1960s generation
of resistance against an inculcated generation had lived. of art school women graduates.
“feminine” ideal. It is against this radical back- Textiles, both as a material set
If the 1950s were more about drop that we produced at the time of practices and as a fluid set of
conservatism and how to be a that all kinds of different artworks mobile signs, became available for
good housewife, the 1960s were and against which the art scene use in many different ways.
about social unrest and political of the 1960s and 1970s should Whether as an art of personal
upheaval. Peace activism, civil be viewed.2 Not only was there a negotiation (as in Miriam Schap-
rights, social equality, women’s socio-political thrust to the content iro’s “femmages”) as a critique of
 18 Janis Jefferies
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Figure 2
Installation shot as part of “Burnt Breakfast” and other works by Su Richardson. Exhibition curated by Alexandra M. Kokoli
(Gray’s School of Art, Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen), for The Women’s Art Library/Make and Constance Howard
Gallery, July‒September 2012. David Ramkalawon, photographer, Constance Howard Gallery, Goldsmiths, University of
London, UK.

patriarchal society (problematically events, actions, and conferences tocopied and typed transcripts. 4
in Judy Chicago’s Dinner Party), surrounding Feministo are hard Amidst the charged atmosphere
as bearing witness to ideas of to find. In this regard, Roszika of radical reorientation, 1970s
and class, piece-work and global Parker and Griselda Pollock’s women artists, including myself,
industrialization (as in Women and Framing Feminism: Art and the banded together to repudiate the
Work: A Document on the Division Women’s Movement, 1970–1985 established canon.
of Labour in Industry by Kay Hunt, (1987) is essential reading. It is For those readers unfamiliar
Mary Kelly and Margaret Harrison),3 an invaluable resource that maps with textiles as a problematic
or as an examination of domesticity actions and events that pre- category of craft within what is
and the sexual division of labor (as date social media; the material known in the UK as “second-wave
in the UK based Feministo project discussed in this collection was feminism,” then Parker and
of 1975–1978), textiles were used gathered from Xerox copied mate- Pollock’s Old Mistresses: Women,
to explore and debate a plethora of rial delivered at conferences, Art and Ideology (1981) is another
complex issues and discourses. seminars, and exhibitions. We key reference work. It explores
As Alexandra Kokoli has all contributed to the anthology the historical developments sur-
pointed out, much of the mate- through our own archival and rounding the status of women’s
rial that refers to the earliest often haphazard records of pho- work through the emergence of
 Crocheted Strategies 19
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Figure 3
Installation shot of Bear it in Mind Hanging, 1978. Made for Fenix (1977–1978), a collaborative project following on from
Feministo, with Kate Walker, Monica Ross, and Suzy Varty. The punning misspelling of Phoenix in the title, the mythical
bird rising from its ashes, references both feminism and Feministo, and acknowledges the on-going commitment
to working collaboratively, dialogically and in ways that underline process: works were exhibited before they were
“finished,” to invite and respond to viewers’ observations; and Me tapestry, 1978. Shown as part of “Burnt Breakfast” and
other works by Su Richardson, curated by Alexandra M. Kokoli. David Ramkalawon, photographer, Constance Howard
Gallery, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK.

hierarchical binaries such as readers would surely be famil- by framing the history of wom-
craft:art, amateur:professional iar with The Subversive Stitch en’s embroidery as a symbol of
and exposes the ideological (Parker 1984), since Parker takes and a means of inculcating and
nature of such binaries. Most this investigation a step further maintaining the ideal of femi-
 20 Janis Jefferies
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Figure 4
Installation shot of Face Cushion, 1976, Broken Heart Rug, 1982, Broken heart with the stuffing coming out, after being
heavily trodden on! Patched up and crocheted back together, and Wonderwoman Cushion, 1976, She is strangling herself
with her own golden lanyard (rope). A cautionary tale for all over-worked women to heed!’ Su Richardson, part of “Burnt
Breakfast” and other works by Su Richardson, curated by Alexandra M. Kokoli. David Ramkalawon, photographer,
Constance Howard Gallery, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK.

ninity. She defined femininity The Postal Event: Crocheted touched on their experiences of
as expected behavior of women, Strategies and Women Crafting domesticity and were created
therefore tying embroidery to Their Own Communities in the in response to their own life expe-
notions of the domestic sphere, 1970s riences. As such, the initiative
defined as non-professional and The postal art project that was led to a call for a re-examination
the embroidered piece as polit- later to be called Feministo of the criteria that defined what
ically neutered and made out of started off casually and in private kinds of art and which artists
“love.” Often placed in the ama- late in 1974, between friends were to be “valued.” Those
teur role within the hierarchy of Kate Walker and Sally Gollop, involved chose to use recycled
craft, she noted that the language after the latter moved house.5 materials that were assembled
used by women embroiderers is Elegant in its economy of means, on kitchen tables not simply out
one of “work.” Stereotypes of they initiated a network of postal of necessity but as a deliberate
feminine patience and perse- exchanges of small, cheap and political choice, as part of an eco-
verance remain, but little else, easy-to-post artworks, most logical, anti-technological, and
meaning any creativity, expres- of which drew on traditional inclusive model of creativity and
sion or skill is overlooked. women’s craft techniques that communication (Goodall 1976;
 Crocheted Strategies 21
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Figure 5
Detail of Burnt Breakfast, 1976. Exhibited as part of “Burnt Breakfast” and other works by Su Richardson, curated by
Alexandra M. Kokoli. David Ramkalawon, photographer, Constance Howard Gallery, Goldsmiths, University of London,
UK.

Parker and Pollock 1987; Walker Institute of Contemporary Arts, transformed a building and used
1980). London, UK, in 1977. discarded everyday objects for
In 1976 the accumulated As previously noted, women their art works, first because they
works went on a touring exhi- such as Richardson, Ross, and were freely available and second
bition, Portrait of the Artist as Walker, who trained in art schools because, “it was also a means
a Young Woman, and included in the 1960s and 1970s, often of creating art quickly within the
installation at two key venues. communicated with each other limited amount of time available
The first was in 1976 in Manches- through the media of domestic to them outside domestic obliga-
ter and is known as the Postal crafts, sewing, knitting, and tions” (Reckitt and Phelan 2001:
Event: Portrait of an Artist as a crochet to represent their lives 94). The result, as Rozsika Parker
Young Housewife. It grew out and work from within the home. notes, “... exposed the hidden
of Fenix Arising, a cooperative Kate Walker was also inspired side of the domestic dream”
traveling installation made by Su by Miriam Schapiro and Judy (1975: 38).
Richardson, Monica Ross, and Chicago’s Womanhouse project, Most of Feministo’s material
Kate Walker. The second instal- and established A Woman’s Place traces (the works) have now
lation, Portrait of the Artist as at 14 Radnor Terrace, London, been erased: “the intention not
a Housewife, was shown at the UK. Here, Walker and others the object was the purpose; the
 22 Janis Jefferies
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Figure 6
Mini Protest Banner made by Sarah Corbett, hung inside Somerset House during London Fashion Week, 2013. Photo by
Robin Prime.

process of making art works as Women’s Art Library at Goldsmiths, curated by Alexandra M. Kokoli,
communication rather than the University of London, UK. a young researcher then based at
production of commodities.” 6 Gray’s School of Art, Robert Gordon
However, there are over 100 slides “Burnt Breakfast” and other University, Aberdeen. Kokoli was
documenting this project, mainly works by Su Richardson interested in how Richardson’s
from the ICA installation and “Burnt Breakfast” and other works work could be seen as emblem-
donated by Walker and Richardson by Su Richardson was an exhibi- atic of the intersection of feminist
separately, which are kept at the tion of crochet and textile works, aesthetic, philosophy, and politics,
 Crocheted Strategies 23
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Figure 7
Kristina Lindström and Åsa Ståhl, Threads—A Mobile Sewing Circle. Image by Åsa Ståhl.

the cultural meanings of women’s and other works by Su Richard- It, been “Hidden from History”
crafts, domestic politics, and the son opened on July 6, 2012 in (1973: 9).8
sexual division of labor.7 She was the gallery space overseen by As key protagonists and
concerned that here was an artist Goldsmiths Textile Collection. forerunners of the 1970s mul-
whose practice had played a key Since her contribution to the ti-faceted textile oriented craft
role in the revaluation of craft since Feminist Arts News special issue revival, Femininsto and Richard-
the 1970s but whose work had not covering “Craft” in 1981, her work son’s work in particular arguably
been seen for nearly 40 years. Rich- as one of the co-editors of Women anticipates contemporary coun-
ardson’s works had been stored and Craft in 1987 and her heavy ter-cultures and movements that
in bin liners in the artist’s attic for involvement in creating Crocheted combine craft with performance,
nearly four decades before Kokoli, Strategies: A New Audience of yarn bombing and guerrilla knit-
during the course of her research, Women’s Work, Richardson had, ting. At the “Counterculture Cro-
rescued them and ensured their in Sheila Rowbotham’s famous chet” seminar held on the same
public survival. phrase taken from her book day as the opening of Kokoli’s
In collaboration with Althea of the same title, Hidden from restaging, 9 Richardson recalled
Greenan of the Women’s Art History: 300 Years of Women’s her experiences of Feministo dur-
Library/Make, “Burnt Breakfast” Oppression and the Fight Against ing the morning session, which
 24 Janis Jefferies

was recorded by the Women’s Art participate. When Feministo was we don’t compete. The posting of
Library: first shown in 1997, it was derided one piece of work to another made
for its use of textile. As Monica ownership ambiguous. Our creativ-
Through the Postal Event experi- Ross explains, the work was a ity is valid” (1976: 211).
ence I was led to an involvement challenge to the status quo: “By
with the creative process: what placing the embroidered, knit- The Contradictions: Private and
I made was no longer just about ted and crocheted work in an art Public
its formal qualities, colors or gallery was intended to challenge Feministo punctured the public
textures but something of reason the value-laden division between sphere by inserting into it wom-
and purpose, it was often cyni-
‘home’ and ‘work’, ‘art’ and ‘craft’. en’s crafts, domestic politics, and
cally humorous, too. I’ve used a
… The art gallery is maintained as the sexual division of labor—all
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lot of crochet: it’s a medium I can

control. My underwear piece is a special space by what is kept once thought of as purely private
a crocheted skin with a padded outside of it. Feministo disrupted concerns. This is to use the term
button and a nice wig-hat. On one that structure” (1976: 211). “the public sphere” as Habermas
arm and one side has ‘underwear Rozsika Parker, ever alert, (1974) does, which is to define the
written on it, and on the other noted that in one location a public sphere as a zone between
side a label which says, ‘sale.’ sign reading “not suitable for the private activities of the citizen
children” was hung on the door. and the operations of the state as
Most of the works that Richard- 10 Parker cited the work of Kate the very arena in which cultural
son produced between 1974 and Walker, Margaret Harrison, artifacts circulate.
1977 were re-presented in the 2012 Monica Ross, and Phil Goodall Re-presenting Richardson’s con-
exhibition. Richardson remem- (also a member of Feministo) in tribution to Feministo in the 2012
bered how she, Monica Ross, The Subversive Stitch as having exhibition emphasized yet again
and Kate Walker had explored a made a significant contribution that textile work, once positioned
“nurturant” kitchen as in the piece, to developing a critical language as craft and made in a domestic
The Other Side of the Blanket (1977) which revealed how the use space, underrated and underval-
which for her read as a play on the of embroidery and textiles in ued but highly skilled, could be
idea of the “Portrait of an Artist as socially specific and gendered propelled into a place of very pub-
a Young Housewife.” Walker’s pink terms could be understood. lic debate on re-framing feminism,
and blue knitted mat contained What is important here is that a multi-faceted craft revival and a
the stitched apology to the art Parker had articulated two para- fast-expanding reclamation of craft
work: “Heart not Art, Homemade doxical issues; on the one hand techniques in “fine” art practice.
I’m Afraid.” Fenix’s combinations embroidery had been a marker of The 1977 intervention received
of fried egg/breast motifs, crochet femininity; and on the other it had very little critical attention in the
breakfasts, and “pregnant” cush- been a “weapon of resistance,” art press and the same was true in
ions may now seem a little clichéd, enabling women to actively pro- 2012; yet today we have neither
but the irreverence and punning duce things in the world, to trans- Spare Rib nor Feminist Art News.
humor continues in contemporary form materials into meaningful This state of affairs is not unusual
practices pursued by artists such objects and to carve out a place for where work of this kind is con-
as Sarah Lucas and Tracey Emin. personal thought and self-expres- cerned. 11 However, and contrary to
Overall, the 2012 installation, as in sion. What is also telling is how the Walker’s anti-technological com-
1977, told a “female life story … in late Monica Ross summed up the ments cited earlier, social media
shoes from babyhood to mother- ways Feministo departed from the offers new forms of communication
hood” (Kokoli’s exhibition press competitive individualism fostered and new opportunities to facilitate
release), and combined memo- by the art institutions: “Our cre- another kind of commentary and
rabilia, artworks, and personal ativity derives from non-precious engagement illustrated by this
statements with invitations to folk traditions. We communicate, extract:
 Crocheted Strategies 25

Unfortunately there is next to digm shift, from valuing autonomy authority encoded in the purity
nothing online about her, so I and objectivity (“pure reason”) to demanded by an ideal objectivity.
can’t share any link to images of valuing interdependence and sub- Code (1991) concludes that wom-
her work, thus another reason jectivity (communal knowledge); en’s knowledge cannot attain this
to travel to South London and from focusing on the relation of a ideal standard because it would
see this exhibition, with works
proposition to reality, to focusing appear to grow out of experi-
full of humor and sexuality,
on the interrelationship of subject ences, out of continued contact
such as: ‘Friends Glove’ (1979)
where satin long sleeve gloves and proposition in creating knowl- with particularities of material,
caress a carefully crocheted and edge/power. which are strongly shaped by
embroidered penis and vagina; The early 1980s witnessed an the subjectivity of its knowers:
or ‘Travelling Man’ (1978) which unprecedented growth in femi- women.
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Su Richardson affirms as being nist publications and exhibitions Donna Haraway also uses the
‘Made for a friend to their own that focused on the re-evaluation concept of situated knowledges,
instructions’. There is a choice as of experience and its relation to which she describes as locatable,
to when to be sexual (equipment ideas about knowledge. While the allowing us to find “the connec-
can be removed and clipped into personal is not always political tions and unexpected openings
own hand for protection and
and the autobiographical voice in that situated knowledges make
safe-keeping), choice to be anon-
women’s creative practices does possible” (1988: 96). At this point
ymous (no facial features except
tongue out at the world), choice not always guarantee a feminist in the article it is worth remem-
to move quickly, incognito (folds politics, the question of how bering that when Feministo was
up into a handy bag for travelling knowledge is produced remains first shown it was derided for its
on someone else’s shoulder) 12 embedded in feminist philosophy use of textile work to challenge
and research. the conventional mores of a
Following Code (1991), women largely male dominated art world
What Can She Know? What is and their “traditional” skills are system of what was “worthy” of
Knowledge? excluded from those who “count” exhibition.
Hotly contested accounts of wom- as knowers and that which counts In the final chapter of Subver-
en’s experiences, within the home, as the known. She suggests that sive Stitch, Parker explores the
in the factory and at work explored authoritative epistemic status is role of embroidery in the Women’s
in sociological texts of the 1970s not conferred upon the knowl- Liberation Movement in the 1970s,
and 1980s (Rowbotham et al.), are edge that women have rationally citing the work of Kate Walker,
echoed in feminist writing which constructed out of lived experi- Margaret Harrison, Monica Ross,
is interested in textile based craft ence. It is an area in which the and Phil Goodall. The emergence
production as a source of literary politics of gender finds itself of their situated knowledges and
and critical metaphor, and in cri- allegedly illustrated through “gos- experiences made a profound con-
tiques of philosophy and science. sip,” “old wives tales,” “women’s tribution to developing a language,
When it comes to “knowing,” lore” and “witchcraft”,13 as well and promoting how the use of
does it matter who does the as “slow activism,” a form of embroidery and textiles in socially
knowing? Is knowing independent reflective action which changes specific and gendered terms, could
of the knower, and if not, what is it the participant as much as it does be critically understood.
about the knower that affects the the world, as promoted by the
knowing? Canadian philosopher Craftist Collective.14 News from the Knitting Circle:
Lorraine Code (1991) argues per- Both the subjugation and trivi- Making is Connecting 40 Years
suasively that whether the knower alization of women’s “traditional” On
is a man or woman, understanding skills can only be meaningfully Forty years on, there is another
why requires a feminist epistemol- explained in terms of struc- kind of news from the knitting
ogy. That project involves a para- tures of power and differential circle, propelled by social media
 26 Janis Jefferies

and a renewed interest in the activists, for example, those that In Gauntlett’s account, making
politics of making. Part of the use knitting and embroidery to is a way of connecting materials
explanation appears to be that make political statements. and ideas, a way of socializing and
crafting is now a community and a The inference is that there connecting to other people and to
movement with appealing values is more to be learned about the both social and physical environ-
that people, not only women, want tactics of community sustainability, ments. Such making, he suggests,
to be engaged in, for example, resilience, and engagement, from leads to a greater sense of involve-
Crafting Communities of Practice the example of craft communities ment in society and consequently
and Interest: Connecting “Online” of interest. However, in the pro- to a better feeling of belonging in
and “Offline” Making Practices is cess, 40 years of feminist literature the world. For Gauntlett, making
a UK, Arts and Humanities funded is in danger of being erased as this and sharing is in and of itself, a
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research project.15 The research movement is being reconfigured political act.

has included a systematic review by a neoliberal agenda, which Indeed, crafters interviewed for
of practices of online/offline appropriates such nascent move- Handmade Nation (Levine 2008)
participation within craft related ments and renames the activity as support Gauntlett’s research that
communities of practice and evidence of successful encourage- a necessary condition of active
communities of interest. It has ment of a “creative” economy built participation is engaging in dialog
explored the limits to distinctions on self-employment. 16 We are all with a community. For example,
between online/offline, virtual, “entrepreneurs” now. Christy Petterson tells her story
and real subjects, to show how David Gauntlett makes just such in Handmade Nation of how she
making materially mediates these a case in Making is Connecting: the always liked being creative but had
complex temporally dynamic social meaning of creativity, from been put off doing “art” because
communities. DIY and knitting to YouTube and the education system had framed
This understanding raises a Web 2.0 from 2011. A continuum of it as “serious” and “analytical.”
number of questions: crafts practice is traced through to For Petterson, it was only when she
the digital age of blogging, social happened to find websites such as
• What are the distinctions and networks, and making videos for Getcrafty.com17 that she felt able
overlaps between communities YouTube. His analysis suggests and inspired to do whatever she
of practice and interest in rela- that engaging with Web 2.0 tech- wanted: “I realized that I had found
tion to online/offline craft? nologies is an example of “every- my people,” as she puts it.
• How do contemporary com-
day creativity” that helps bring
munities of practice/interest Women Crafting Communities:
people together to make and inno-
appropriate traditional skills? Creative Activism
• Is there a tension between vate. Three definitive motivations
are outlined for making and every- Contemporary craftivist movements
craft’s emphasis on local net-
day creativity. This understanding need to be situated within the social
works and global connectivity?
raises a number of questions: contexts from which they emerged,
in order to unpack which elements
These questions unfold in the
(1) Pleasure and an enhanced of craft history have been engaged
nexus between online and offline sense of self as creative with, and to what end. K.A. Williams
communities and are concerned agent; suggests crafitivist self-identify as
with how space, time, and mate- (2) Feeling alive in the world
“a social activism that explicitly links
riality relate to the processes and through the ability to do
individual creativity and human-
practices of community building. things as an active partic-
ipant engaged in dialogue based mechanisms of production
Interestingly, the research charts
with a community; to broader sociopolitical cultural
the rise of new political move-
(3) Recognition by like-minded contexts in an attempt to influence
ments, such as “craftivism,” which
people. the social world” (2011: 305). She
use online tools to gather together
 Crocheted Strategies 27

have briefly articulated in this text,

positions the development of craftiv- eroded the absolute necessity of
ism as being related to: essentially challenging patriarchy a central, collective work prac-
and the hegemony of the dominant tice in a physical specific place
(1) Third-wave feminism; male discourse. Hardy presents and time, it has nevertheless
(2) Environmentalism; the case for a period, now called provided virtual connectivity for
(3) Anticapitalism and
third-wave feminism, which tries to independent crafters who can be
anti-sweatshop organizing;
dismantle the modes of exclusion both independent and collective
(4) Anti-war politics.
and recognize subjective posses- simultaneously. The term used by
Williams (2011) also discusses sors of knowledge. These defini- crafters to locate themselves as
whether or not third-wave femi- tions are fluid and may change as entities is that of independent,
nism and associated politics of our understanding and experience known as “indie.”
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craftivism do in fact provide an evolves.

alternative political narrative. Within the UK, the Craftivist Indie Crafters
Her argument suggests they Collective, instigated by Sarah The term “independent” began
could be seen as a re-entrench- Corbett, cites Betsy Greer and her to be widely used in the 1980s
ment of gendered ideals, even definitions of craftivism as “a way in the UK, initially as a label for
where crafting practices that of looking at life where voicing popular music bands releasing
were once (potentially) oppres- opinions through creativity makes their music without assistance
sive are re-appropriated with a your voice stronger, your compas- from the corporate record labels.
sense of play or irony. Williams sion deeper and your quest for Soon “independent” became
suggests that while problematic justice more infinite.” But it is not synonymous with increased artistic
in its assertion that it is being a new concept, as Sarah is keen to control over every aspect of crea-
“un-problematically” feminist or point out.18 tive production. American author
class-transcendent, nevertheless, There has been a long and Kaya Oakes defines this “move-
“when interpreted as a contempo- inspirational history of craft being ment” as possessing the qualities
rary iteration of a long-standing used to tackle poverty and expose of “credibility, freedom, and the
cultural phenomenon of utopian social injustice. In the 1970s and ability [for participants] to promote
movements and their evolu- 1980s, Chilean women used arpill- their own work and control how it
tionary development, craftivism eras, appliquéd textile artwork is promoted, self-reliance, open
also serves as a valuable model sold internally to make money and mind and freedom to take creative
of broad-based countercultural survive political oppression and risks” (2009: 10).
activism”(2011: 319). economic hardship (Agosin 1987); Independent, “indie” crafters
To take this one step further, there were also patchworks made are involved in hand making, the
Michele Hardy’s “Feminism, Crafts in Soweto during the apartheid results of which are then docu-
& Knowledge” (2004), discusses struggles in South Africa.19 For Cor- mented in online blogs. Making
how different types of knowledge bett, craftivism is a form of “slow ranges from the stereotypical
are valued. Working from her expe- activism,” a reflexive action which handcraft practice of crocheting
rience as a craftsperson, Hardy changes the participant as much as “granny squares” to hip knitted
values crafts “as a way of knowing it does the world. iPod holders. The recent surge
the world, as a body of knowledge” It is possible to argue that in people learning traditional
(2004: 176). She presents a short- the resurgence in handcraft techniques of knitting, sewing, and
hand for how first-wave feminism is simultaneous with a global crocheting has seen handcrafts
contributed to the realization that growth in electronic communi- transition from the traditional
women were treated differently to cations. While this conjunction domain into mainstream home
men and that women wanted to be with traditional handcrafts in the magazines, newspaper profiles,
treated equally. This was followed digital age may appear to be a television lifestyle programs, and
by second-wave feminism, which I paradox because the Internet has online space.
 28 Janis Jefferies

Speaking from a predominantly sees oneself as producing extreme historical specificity. In an analysis
Western position of “young, urban craft (craftzine.com), a mix of craft of the resurgence of knitting she
and female,” “independent” masquerading as art and vice finds that there is little mention of
crafters are intent on spreading the versa; as a craftster (craftster.org), craft based political work, which
message about the power of mak- recognizing that no object can be has occurred in some form from
ing objects by hand. An attempt produced without irony, or finally the suffragettes at the turn of the
to define indie craft precisely is involved in craftivism, pursuing century, through to the feminist
perhaps contradictory, although a crafty life by activating projects movement of the 1970s and 1980s.
one of the strongest features is its with a political agenda.20 As Stevens’ suggests that craft
online presence, with a plethora of Dennis Stevens, another is tied to women’s place in the
blogs and online forums dedicated contributor to Buszek’s anthol- domestic sphere, Robertson also
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to the practices and discussion ogy, argues that craft is at a argues that handcrafting has
of indie craft. Indie craft arguably generational crossroads but is become a statement on domestic
combines hand making with new “predominantly driven by the roles, a rethinking of our assertion
technologies, but with the proviso ideology of third-wave feminism” from the 1970s that “the personal
I outline in the final section of thisso that “DIY craft comprises loosely is political” (2011: 186).
article. connected groups of individuals This time around, Robertson
with a general collective interest in argues, women choose to knit,
Loving Attention and Critical reshaping, or least a stand against, crochet or stitch, forming commu-
Interventions what they view as the inequities nity and friendships through online
In, “Loving Attention: an outburst of social and economic power communication networks, which
of craft in contemporary art”, within capitalism” (2011: 51). He “remove the practice from its for-
my contribution to Maria Elena takes the view that the embrace of mer sense of isolation.” Robertson
Buszek’s Extra/Ordinary: Craft and handcraft by a younger generation proposes that “the resurgence
Contemporary Art (2011: 222–242), of women signified a statement of “feminine” knitting could be
I listed a number of definitions and a reappraisal of the “presumed more closely intertwined with the
of DIY and independent crafting role of domestic creativity” that changing “masculine economy
that are connected by a remix of was arguably rejected during ...” is linked to global capitalism
personal creativity and social activ- second-wave feminism. Accord- and a drive towards developing
ism. Superficially, these look quite ing to Stevens, what is termed craft “brands” that operate within
similar to the 1970s textile based “indie” craft emerges from “a creative industry models. Ironi-
craft movement. However, if one culture that does not seek profes- cally, meanwhile, the British textile
checks any of the current websites sional validation within traditional industry shrank by 40% between
on craft, for example, craftster.org methodology which comes from, 1994 and 2004 (2011: 193).
or craftivism.com, the difference a rather unintentional remix of the So it would seem that for many
is telling. As I argued, following 1970s principles and aesthetics crafters, the contemporary practice
Greer, on the one hand the cur- choosing reinvent tradition as a of craft is firmly placed in the
rent DIY ethos seeks to confront remix, engaging with it through language of empowerment and lib-
mass-market consumerism and parody, satire and nostalgic irony” eration. Or, as one English author
the blandness of corporate culture, (2011: 51). on “indie” craft, Jo Waterhouse,
but on the other, once again it also In contrast to this thesis, Kirsty explains, “any feminists who have
challenges preconceived notions of Robertson in her contributing bemoaned the current rise of craft
what gets shown as contemporary essay, “Rebellious Doilies and shouldn’t worry” (2010: 10). She
art. Subversive Stitches” (2011), argues rejects the idea of craft as keeping
As Greer has outlined, DIY that political and feminist actions women “busy,” turning it instead
encompasses at least three defini- of the new wave of contemporary into a source of achievement and
tions depending upon whether one crafter are often made without economic self-sufficiency. At the
 Crocheted Strategies 29

heart of indie craft there is a belief about any attempts to get off the demonstrated “how discourses
in the idea of the democracy of the grid, and deeply sympathetic to flow in and out of constructions of
Internet and that its non-hierarchi- populations who feel marginalized identity, self, private and public,
cal and decentralized format can from the mainstream, the politi- national, local and global. Bounda-
promote different forms of activism cally oppressed, and economically ries, thus, are permeable, unstable
through technological engage- impoverished. and uneasy” (1997: 31).
ments, debate, and markets. Metcalf (2008) likens craftiv- We all inhabit more than one
Others, such as Ele Carpenter ists to local food advocates, who speaking position, for example:
(2010), question whether or not think about shifting production mother, researcher, crafter, writer,
craftivism is really activist. Follow- back into the hands of ordinary blogger, consumer, citizen. These
ing equivalent analysis to Robert- people, thereby promoting the shifting but interrelated positions,
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son, she argues that instead of same ideals of self-empowerment rooted in day-to-day experience,
acknowledging the feminist politics that motivated both John Ruskin exemplify well the tension and
of knitting ca. Feministo, knitted and William Morris. Metcalf argues fluctuating nature of identity that
cakes run the risk of re-enforcing that the oppositional impulses has been argued in more abstract
gender-stereotypes whereby craf- behind craftivism predate the terms by feminist theorists such
tivism gets confused with a retro 1960s, citing William Morris, one of Rosi Braidotti (1989):
feminine and a re-glamorization of England’s leading Socialists in the
motherhood (Raven 2010). 1880s, and a very early opponent Speaking ‘as a feminist woman’
Is textile-based craft still a of industrial pollution. Craft and does not refer to one dogmatic
viable mode for feminist political capitalism have always been tied framework but rather to a knot of
action? Yes and No. Julia Bryan-Wil- together; Metcalf notes that craft interrelated questions that play out
son (2011) argues that the feminist has always advocated capitalism across different layers, registers
ideals which informed a critique of on a very small scale, with modest and levels of the self. Feminist
theory is a mode of relating
women’s work such as Chicago’s investments and face-to-face
thought to life. As such, not only
Dinner Party, Hunt, Kelly Harrison’s marketplaces. This is small-money,
does it provide a critical standpoint
Women and Work: A Document on small footprint, intimate capital- to deconstruct established forms
the Division of Labour and the Fem- ism, designed to solve one of the of knowledge, drawing feminism
inisto project cited at the beginning most urgent questions posed by close to critical theory; it also
of this article, produced either “a industrial society: How does one establishes a new order of values
critique of gendered hierarchies, find dignified labor? If this was within the thinking process itself,
or a political recuperation of the a question posed by Ruskin in giving priority to the lived experi-
decorative and the ‘low’—have 1853, it is still relevant today. As ence. (1989: 94–95)
been rendered somewhat beside contemporary craftivists such as
the point” (2011: 2).21 Sarah Corbett have asserted, craft The feminist researcher is aware
Whilst activist craft (“craftiv- is often inherently anti-corporate. of—indeed may regard as deter-
ism”) shares some of attributes mining—her own position within
with both DIY and the new market- Practices and Expansion her field of study. To put it quite
places, it is primarily motivated If, following Ann Gray’s claim, that directly, I am a woman in my own
by radical, social, and political “feminism” is expanded to include study. Recognition of the differ-
critique but does not specifically “a practice as well as a politics and ent subject positions occupied
refer in the singular to feminism. a strong intellectual movement” between the autobiographical,
Bruce Metcalf (2008) argues on (1997: 90), then there is the possi- the maker, the researcher and
his website DIY, Websites and bility of political action as practice. researched, and the inherent
Energy: The New Alternative Crafts, The debate then shifts to what power differential in this relation-
that craftivism is anti-globalist, constitutes intellectual movement. ship, continues as a theme in much
anti-corporate, green, enthusiastic As Gray puts it, feminist work has feminist criticism. The relation-
 30 Janis Jefferies

ship is further complicated by openness in method and reflex- action of making things together,
the contradictory positions of the ivity, enlightens what feminism not just by virtue of the Internet,
researcher as “one of the group” as practice can be, just as I have rather by drawing different con-
and as “authority,” a tension which argued that textiles is an expanded stituencies together through two
is often acknowledged in self-re- practice, both conceptually and means of communication—textiles
flexive accounts of the research politically. Issues, whom they and computation.
process. I acknowledge this here might concern and how they might In doing so, Threads becomes
too. be addressed, are not givens but a way of practicing caring curiosity
I do not believe that there is a are always and continually in the or caring towards craft and people,
movement in the same sense that making. as well as towards ongoing and
one could be identified and named One such example is shared emerging issues related to living
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as second-wave feminism and what in the next section; Lindström with technologies. For Lindström
my metropolitan-centered 1970s and Ståhl, two activist research- and Ståhl, the technologies of
generation struggled with. Instead, ers from Sweden, work through sewing, patching, cutting, making,
I suggest that a more nuanced collective experiment to show that crafting, and hooking a sewing
understanding is necessary. material and crafting participation machine to the iPhone are bringing
The ethical implications of how can operate as specific modes of connected technologies and prac-
we make relations and connections political participation, when rela- tices to create new ways of know-
between us is to place an empha- tions of relevance are established ing, of composing new work and of
sis on becoming with and what it through collaborative composi- forming new relationships.22
means to take responsibility for tion and negotiation. Inspired by
how relations are produced. It is a traditional sewing circle, they We are All Entangled of Course
not about trying to preserve materi- have gathered together people I started this text with a critique
als (in a literal sense), nor femi- who responded to an invitation of a set of experiences that had
nism (as an essentialist ideology) to embroider text messages by informed my thinking and activism
even though it can be painful to cut hand and machine, making things since the 1970s. A new genera-
both into fragments. together, in order to consider what tion has since moved away from
Rather, it is to engage with matters and stimulating debate this mode of analysis into that of
continuous working and re-work- and discourse about emerging composition, placing an emphasis
ing, making and re-making, crafting issues. on the processes of engagement,
and re-crafting experience as a building a public in the very
means of care. It is to propose that Making and Making: Crafting process of making work that is not
we reflect upon a way of thinking Communities as Publics in the technologically deterministic.
which is neither more of the same Making Perhaps it is no surprise that
nor a radical break with the past Kristina Lindström and Asa Ståhl Lindström and Ståhl have been
but through relational re-ordering (2014) have produced an exciting influenced by Haraway and her
an ethics of how women crafting collaborative practice-based piece rather unusual small publication
communities is reconfigured of work across two disciplines: When Species Meet (2008), where
through exchanges of knowledge interaction design, and media the action of cat’s cradle is used
and lived experience. and communication studies. as a metaphor for taking respon-
Accounts of experience and how Threads—A Mobile Sewing Circle, sibility for how relationships may
knowledge is produced remain a is a traveling exhibition in which be made possible. “Care” in these
rich and necessary resource for participants are invited to embroi- relationships can also be pro-
research. In my view, feminist der a text message by hand using posed, as a verb just as to craft
informed methodology, insisting an embroidery machine connected is also to “care.” Both lead to a
as it does on problematizing all to a mobile phone. Their thesis is notion of material doing both in
categories, and on a clarity and that “publics” emerge out of the practice and in ethics.
 Crocheted Strategies 31

When Katie King first started So, as communities of practice There is no demanding adher-
playing with html for making web- come together—like knots—they ence to a specific subject position
sites in the late 1990s, it was in offer the potential to join in new and neither does Gray’s conception
the evenings in between knotting permutations, dynamically inter- of feminism assume that there is
embroideries or crochet lace, or connected in a range of possible a correct way to practice femi-
later, spinning fiber or knitting.23 interactive or “playful” contexts, nism; rather, it acknowledges that
As King so vividly conjures in her but still remain situated at dif- different practices can be taken up
contribution to “Knotting in Com- ferent levels of scope and scale. in the spirit and cause of feminism,
mon,”24 she thought of the web as They encourage social learning, and, in the process, feminism can
always textual in the textile, sen- are distributed across different be widened to embrace those who
sory as in fingery, and worldly. Who platforms and involve differing may not otherwise identify with the
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do we want to share worlds with, temporalities. term.

why, when, and how? How sharea- King, alongside Haraway, Gray, Ultimately, another way of
ble can knots be? How “material”? and Bradotti, asks us to think exploring such an intervention
How “entangled”? about the practice of cat’s cradle, would be to suggest that what we
We can understand such a game of relaying patterns of have understood is that we may
questions as suggestive of worlds information, holding and passing have gathered to sew, knit, stitch,
perhaps only half glimpsed visually on or proposing another knot of and transmit, but we still need to
yet still palpably immersive and information and experience. Cat’s differentiate between different
stimulating to the senses; worlds cradle is another textile metaphor kinds of making and the contribu-
which function across distrib- deployed to suggest that when tions that they make. Feminism,
uted communities, technologies, you make patterns out of strings, like craft, is not a fixed or stable
embodiments, practices. How you knot things together thereby term but rather offers a number of
shareable can knots be? Knots configuring them with your hands contested positions for each gener-
move not just along a rope or a and passing them on. Other hands ation to re-examine and renew.
string but involve many other kinds can then make further interesting
of gatherings. patterns and alliances in different Acknowledgements
King asks us to consider knots but dynamic relation, to play this With thanks to Holly Tebbutt, the
as things, conjunctions, or assem- game. best friend and copy editor I know.
blies that convene and transmit What do the “knowledge stories
stories. In the third part of her tell” in their “grains of detail” Notes
book, she takes up these ideas which compels you to place each  1. Spare Rib was a second-wave
in terms of crafts, publics and differently within a more complex feminist magazine in the
industries or public culture sewn net of situated enquiry (King 2011: UK that emerged from the
together with economic develop- 5)? counter culture of the late
ment “amid shifts in cultural value, A different form of knowledge is 1960s as a consequence of
all displaying in varying propor- put to work as “knowledge” itself meetings involving, amongst
tions among old and new technolo- grows in production. Ann Gray’s others, Rosie Boycott and
gies” (2011: 5). expanded definition, like Lorraine Marsha Rowe. It was pub-
The point seems to be that Code and Donna Haraway before lished between 1972 and
within different knowledge her, acknowledges the important 1993. Archives at the Univer-
worlds, joining in with differ- place that “experience” occupies sity of Sussex and the British
ent communities of practice is in feminism, as it can be used to Library.
neither about general or uni- challenge truth-claims and taken-   2. For a good account of the
versal knowledge that everyone for-granted certainties that often differences between the
shares but rather a dynamic marginalize and silence groups of feminist movements in
process of knowledge making. people. Great Britain and the United
 32 Janis Jefferies

States, see Gamble (2001: makers. The seven hands View, Stoke Museum and Art
29–40). painted at the top symbolize Gallery (1980); and Women and
  3. See Broude (1980: 83–87). the manual toil involved in Textiles, Battersea Arts Centre
Judy Chicago’s The Dinner piecework. (1983). Prior to this Richardson
Party was first shown in   4. For more information on which co-organized the Women’s
London in 1984. Further exhibitions were held, includ- Postal Art Event Feministo:
references can be found in ing Women and Textiles, and Representations of the Artist as
The Dinner Party: A Symbol of The Subversive Stitch, please Housewife at the ICA, London,
Our Heritage, first published see the excellent section about 1977, which toured nationally
in 1979 by New York: Dou- exhibitions in Rozsika Parker and internationally.
ble Day/Anchor Publishing. and Griselda Pollock (1987:   8. Rowbotham's seminal book,
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The Dinner Party is now on 185–260). (1973), Hidden from History:

permanent display at the   5. See also the essays by Phil 300 Years of Women's Op-
Brooklyn Museum in New Goodall, "Feministo: Portrait of pression and the Fight Against
York. The sexual division of the Artist as a Young Woman”, It, shows how class and sex,
labor, craft, and class were 206; Roszika Parker, "Portrait work and the family, personal
just some of the aspects of of the Artist as a Housewife", life and social pressures have
women’s work in the 1970s. 207–210; Monica Ross, "Por- shaped and hindered women's
In 1975, Kay Hunt, Mary Kelly trait of the Artist as a Young struggles for equality.
and Margaret Harrison organ- Woman: A Postal Event", 211;   9. Counterculture Crochet was a
ized an exhibition, Women and Phil Goodall, "Growing daylong seminar held on July
and Work: A Document on the Point/Pains in 'Feministo’", 6, 2012 at Goldsmiths, Univer-
Division of Labour in Indus- 213–214, all in Parker and sity of London, UK. This event
try for the South London Art Pollock (1987). accompanied the exhibition
Gallery, London. Harrison,   6. Monica Ross, presentation “Burnt Breakfast” and other
whose work Homeworkers for the 347 min conference, work, curated by Alexandra M
was purchased by TATE in held in conjunction with the Kokoli in collaboration with
2013, advocated strong po- Whitechapel exhibition Live Althea Greenan of The Wom-
litical discourse as the only in Your Head, January‒March en’s Art Library/ MAKE, and
effective means of fighting 2000, revised for the Women Jenny Doussan, Goldsmiths
for workers’ and women’s Artists’ Library (September 5, Textile Gallery. This essay is
rights. She began to research 2000: 5). a revised version of the paper
Homeworkers when the Equal   7. Su Richardson (b.1947 South presented at that event and
Pay Act came into force in the Shields, Tyne and Wear) lives extended for the College Art
UK in December 1975. Harri- and works in Birmingham. Association Annual Confer-
son worked with the National Richardson moved to Birming- ence, Chicago, February 2014.
Campaign for Homeworkers ham as a secondary school art 10. For the full review, see Rozsika
in London for two years and teacher in the 1970s. Around Parker’s "Portrait of an Artist
interviewed 150 women this time she met Monica Ross as a Housewife", Spare Rib 7
working in a metal box fac- and Phil Goodall, who together (1977, 5–8).
tory in Bermondsey in South formed the Birmingham Wom- 11. N. Paradoxa appears to be the
London. The canvas includes en’s Art Group. Group exhibi- only exception, mainly distrib-
items such as gloves, brooch- tions include: Issues (curator uting their articles online. For
es, buttons, and safety pins, Lucy Lippard), ICA, London more information please see:
flanked by their selling (1980); Alternative Images http://web.ukonline.co.ukln.
price, their production time, of Men, Bakehouse Gallery, paradoxa.
and the money paid to their London (1980); Midlands
 Crocheted Strategies 33

12. See http://allmyinde- Toynbee Hall, London, funded held at Concordia University,

pendentwomen.blogspot. by Norwegian Crafts and an Montreal, Canada between
co.uk/2012/08/su-richardson- event produced by Art Projects June 3–5, 2011. Organized by
burnt-breakfast-and-other. and Solutions. See also Sarah the editors of the special issue
html, posted by Carla Cruz, Corbett, of the Journal, I was one of the
accessed 24/02/15; and https://craftivist-collective. international participants.
https://unpopularcultureblog. com/our-story/ (accessed 22. The prevalence of collaborative
wordpress.com/2012/09/03/ 02/07/14) . See also “A Little and collective practices within
last-chance-to-see-burnt- Book of Craftivism” (2013), socially engaged art has been
breakfast-by-su-richard- https://www.etsy.com/shop/ widely discussed by art histo-
son-deptford-town-hall- craftivistcollective (accessed rians including Grant H. Kester
Downloaded by [USC University of Southern California] at 06:35 20 June 2016

pics/#more-534, accessed 02/07/14). (in terms of “dialogical aesthet-

24/02/15. 19. One example is Soweto: A ics”), Claire Bishop (in terms of
13. See Johnson, Pamela, "Art or Patchwork of Our Lives, an “participation”) and Gregory
Women’s Work? News from exhibition of Textile Arts by the Sholette (in terms of “dark
the Knitting Circle," in Oral Zamani Soweto Sisters, Brixton matter”). Key references on the
History, Special Issue on the Art Gallery, London, May 14 to subject include Kester (2004);
Crafts, 1990: 50–53 in which June 24, 1986. The Sisters were Bishop (2006); Stimson and
Anne Lydiatt, Lynn Malcolm, a collective of many groups of Sholette (2007); and Thomp-
Kate Russell and myself were women living in various part of son (2012). In their excellent
interviewed as contributors. Soweto during Apartheid who book, Group Work, the Chica-
The “knitting circle” was how made quilts, fabric collage, go-based collective Temporary
one of Kate’s male colleagues and other textile crafts to Services interviews numerous
described her textile depart- support themselves and their groups about the actual process
ment. families. of working together. Resonating
14. See https://twitter.com/craft- 20. The American blogger Betsey closely with Naomi Klein, the
ivists, accessed 25/02/15. Greer’s interview in the UK editors declare their intent to
15. See http://www.craftcom- national daily newspaper The dismantle the “hyper-individual-
munities.com/, accessed Guardian on May 29, 2006 ism, upon which so much of the
25/02/15. revealed the extent of how art world relies… we subscribe
16. For a discussion of possible widespread craftivism has to an alternative, which is more
reconfigurations of community, become on a global scale open, and non-exclusive, and
and second-wave feminism, (see her website, strives to be honest about both
see Martin and Mohanty (1986: craftivism.com). She believes the human costs created as a re-
191–212); Benston (1980: that each time you partici- sult of the production of art, and
119–129). For a discussion pate in crafting you are mak- about the existence of underly-
around creative economy from ing a difference; whether it is ing power structures within all
within the home, a located site a critical statement against our relationships” (Temporary
of physical production, see useless materialism or by Services, Group Work, Printed
Agnes and Kate Walker (1987: producing items for charity Matter, New York, 2007: 8).
27). making a public statement 23. See Katie King’s blog,
17. See https://www.etsy.com/ about your willingness to http://affectdesign.blogspot.
shop/craftivistcollective, fight for causes you believe co.uk/ (accessed 14/06/12).
accessed 01/07/14. in. Professor of Women's Studies
18. In conversation at the Craft 21. "Sewing Notions" was a at the University of Maryland,
and Social change conference, selected reading as part of College Park, and a Fellow
Wednesday May 8, 2013 at the Cut on the Bias Workshop of the Maryland Institute for
 34 Janis Jefferies

Technology in the Humanities Bryan-Wilson, Julia. 2011. “Sewing Hardy, Michele. 2004. “Feminism,
(MITH), Katie King’s interdisci- Notions.” Artforum International Crafts & Knowledge”. In Objects
plinary scholarship is located 249 (6): 72–75. and Meaning: New Perspectives
at a juncture of feminist tech- on Art and Craft, edited by M.
Buszek, Maria Elena, ed. 2011.
noscience studies, intersec- Anna Fariello and Paula Owen,
Extra/Ordinary: Craft and
tional digital cultures, and 176-183. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow
Contemporary Art. Durham: Duke
media studies. Press.
University Press.
24. Katie King performed her
Haraway, Donna. 1988.
emergent knowledge systems Carpenter, Ele. 2010. “Activist
“Situated Knowledges: The
at the seminar "Knotting in Tendencies in Craft.” In Art,
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