The news at the moment seems to be
filled with hate filled words, natural disasters, destruction,
conflict, fear, suffering and threatening behaviour. Even writing
this list starts to make my breathing more shallow and I feel upset.
 |
| Sarah Corbett. |
So imagine my joy as I heard a quietly
spoken lady explain Craftivism to me and others at a talk last night
in Whitstable. Sarah Corbett talked of an approach to activism that
was beautiful, kind and just. I left the talk inspired and empowered
by her gentle powerful words. She is highly articulate and is a joy
to listen to, so if you are able to catch her next event in Kent I
urge you to. (It's on 25th November at the Folkstone Quarterhouse.)
Her awareness of the world is not weak
or fluffy, she comes from a background of truly understanding the
injustice that exists and quietly plots and plans her response to it.
But instead of shaming, demonising or adding more angry fuel to the
fire, she approaches her goals and the people concerned with love and
respect. Using strategic questioning, emotional intelligence and I
expect, humour, she uncovers the correct powerholders to approach and
acts as a critical friend, encouraging them to change their minds and
use their power for good.
The actual handicraft element is well
thought out, created within a group and is personal to each
Craftivist. There has been some recent press coverage of her work as
she is logistically clever and uses timely events such as London
Fashion week to gain publicity for specific injustices within the
fashion industry. See the link here for more information.
I found her approach resonated with
me. She mentioned she had been burnt out on many occasions because of
her deep need to act upon the social injustice that she saw yet her
introvert nature and hypersensitivity combined to make her feel that
a direct action approach, alongside often loud and aggressive
protesters wasn't a sustainable one for her to take.
 |
| Her new book. |
Her website,
www.craftivist-collective.com
explains so much more and shows some of the beautiful, humble work
that she creates. Her new book comes out on the 5th of
October and can be pre-ordered from her online shop. She will even
sign it and wrap it up for you with a ribbon for no additional cost,
even that gesture shows you what a lovely person she is!
Another book I have just reordered as
a gift for a friend is 'Sometimes a Wild God' by Tom Hiron. It is a
wonderful raw and touching poem that is wonderfully illustrated by
his partner Rima Staines. They conceived the idea of 'Hedgespoken', a
travelling off-grid storytelling and theatre project a while ago and
in recent years have made it happen. Hedgespoken runs out of a 1960's
Bedford RL lorry which has been converted to be a home and 'go
anywhere' stage.
 |
| Painting by Rima Staines. |
The poem, 'Sometimes a Wild God' is
both powerful and beautiful and I think it's about returning 'home'
to ourselves. We can easily become distracted from our true path and
forget what an experience it is just to be here at this time. This
poem celebrates our wild natures and reminds us to connect: to nature
itself and the wild raw power that we each own. One line in
particular reminds me of my obligation to live life fully.
...'Wondering how you got so old
And where your passion went.'
 |
| Passionate poetry. |
It is indeed a wake up call, as I
wrote earlier, the news seems to be full of hate filled words,
natural disasters, destruction, conflict, fear, suffering and
threatening behaviour. But I wonder whether both approaches to life,
Sarahs' gift of the act and word of 'kindfullness', (a mix of
mindlfullness and kindness) alongside Toms' reminder of our essential
connection to nature, that we are made of it, could combine to create
a truly valued and sustainable life.
This is what I will be concentrating
on for the next few days. I aim to buy a 'My Footprint Kit' from
Sarah and after walking and reflecting on this combination of views,
I will create my own stitched words. This image then becomes a
heartfelt reminder to reflect upon my own personal beliefs. I will
hang the completed stitched footprint by the front door to remind me
of what is important. It will hopefully guide me when I leave the
house and ground me when I return.
 |
'My footprint Kit' from the Craftivist Collective shop.
NB; All photographs above are not taken by me, they are for reference only and were taken off the respective official websites.
|
I will be opening the doors of my
beautiful straw bale studio once again this year to exhibit my own
and Alison Lees work as part of the Canterbury Festival, the theme is
still 'The Spirit of Place' as it is an ongoing art project based in
Kent.
You
can keep up to date with our explorations and discoveries by looking
at www.facebook.com/EastKentSpiritOfPlace
Open
times are 11-5 daily on the weekends from 14-29th
of October. We can be found at house number 25 on the Whitstable
trail. Please see the webpage www.ekoh.org.uk
for more information.
 |
| Cabinet of Curiosity, from last years Open Studio event. |
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