RADICALCROSSSTITCH

Handcrafting a new society

One of the biggest highlights of my trip was a super inspiring but way too short trip to Hamilton.

As soon as we arrived, I arranged to meet up with Dr Joyce Stalker whom people might remember from her talk in Melbourne last year. We met Joyce at the school of education where some of her work is on display in the foyer (text from the show).

Nice Women II
70 used tea filters, 70 beading clusters, brown cotton thread
60x95cm
2008

Each year, the [NZ] Police receive 70,000 call outs for domestic violence, an average of one every 7 1/2 minutes. It is estimated that five times as many people acknowledge family violence as call out the police. Meanwhile, nice women sip their tea.

Money Down The Drain
My Mother’s (green) quilt remnants gifted to me on her death, PVC drain pipe, glue, bucket.
50x200cm
2008

Once the quintessential example of recycling acumen, today quilting is a highly commercialised activity. Most quilters, already committed to a search for perfection, now search for the perfect palette, pattern and shading among fabrics manufactured specifically for quilts. We have every right to spend money on or hobbies, but when second hand clothing stores overflow with 100% cotton items, when drains in developing nations run with the colour of toxic textile dyes, I can’t help but wonder if we have too easily let our world of fabric craft be taken over by commercial interests.

My Heritage is Bigger than “I Am”
heritage quilt made by my Grandmother, canvas, embroidery thread
122x175cm
2008

Seventeen years after emigrating to New Zealand Aotearoa, I feel more sharply than ever the loss of my Canadian heritage. I have read that McCahon is this country’s greatest artist and been told that all artists here reference him. I remain stubbornly unmoved by his dark and complex works and deeply stirred by the fabric of my family’s lives.

Night Sounds on Pitcairn Island
used zippers, embroidery thread
80x240cm
2008

Like quilts, zippers can carry many messages. They can be sensual and suggestive, but stories from Pitcairn Island remind us that they can carry darker messages. Romanticized as the windswept refuge of The Bounty’s mutineers, Pitcairn’s history is now tied to the reality of generations of islanders who tolerated the systemic abuse and rape of the island’s young girls.

BACKGROUND

These fabric works originally were part of Threadbare: An exhibition of unruly quilts held at Artspost, Hamilton, 29 August to 22 September, 2008.

Threadbare was a collaborative project between D Wood (a studio furniture artist lecturing at the School of Media Design, Wintec) and Joyce Stalker (an associate Professor lecturing in adult education at the School of Education, Univerty of Waikato).

The purpose of the Threadbare exhibition was to explore what happens when orthodox quilt processes and messages were challenged or eliminated completely – in other words, when quilters and quilts became unruly. We played with the traditional elements of quilt design: repetition (duplication of a predetermined module), pattern (arrangement of the module), layering (front, filling and back), and fixing (method of holding elements together).

I really enjoyed taking some time to see this work.  I was particularly impacted by the Pitcairn piece as I was working in Parliament at the time that story was prominent in the news.  There was quite a process trying to figure out between the various governments involved, the Islanders and the victims what would be an appropriate way to trial the offenders.  I remember the universal horror at the story.  I remember how everyone just stopped dead in their tracks trying to imagine how ingrained and systemic the abuse was for something so awful to go on for so long.

The Pitcairn piece sits nicely with the Tea piece in connecting up quite how universal the systemic violence against women and children in our society really is.  And also how universal the culture of silence and denial is.

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After catching up with Joyce, we heading down to the Migrant Resource Centre (which is an AWESOME venue for a talk) for the talk I was giving about radical craft history.

Despite being 4pm on a Tuesday, there was a great turnout and everyone there was involved in actively creating craft or change in the community.  We had a fantastic discussion after my presentation and it was so inspiring to see so many active thinkers on the issues surrounding craft, women’s knowledge and activist theory.

Even better is that the group decided to meet again soon!  Here’s the callout:

To all Hamilton craftivists, anarcho-embroiderers, eco-crocheters, knitta-street-artists, radical quilters, indy needleworkers, contemporary textile artists, Luddite lacemakers, evolutionary creators, creative evolutionists, stitching saboteurs, etc etc

You are cordially invited to the Vicarage to foment revolution over your needlework.

Whether you are looking for a crafty political collaboration or just some interesting company and conversation while you finish the project that’s starting to drag, this gathering will be more interesting than anything on TV. If we have enough fun we might want to do this regularly.

Forward this invitation and bring your crafty friends along too.

Where: The Vicarage, 25 Thames St, Claudelands (the house with the wooden fence next to the carpark on the corner of Thames and Heaphy)

When: Tuesday 17 March, 7.30pm

What to bring: A handcraft project to work on, your crafty friends

RSVP Meliors

I look forward to hearing reports of what this group gets up to!

Thanks tons to Joyce for organising the talk and all those who helped spread the word.  And thanks to Meliors for picking up the needle and getting the group going!

Finally, I did record the talk so I’ll put up a link when it’s online.

Radical Craft comes to the Tron

Sorry Hamilton! I have neglected you for far too long.  Hope to see as many locals there as can make it.

RSVP on Facebook and spread the word.

Reminder: Wellington Talk Tomorrow!

See you there!

Craft Cartel Podcast Episode #8

The long-awaited Episode #8 of the Craft Cartel podcast, and we talk to Betsy Greer whom we all know and love from craftivism.com abut her new book ‘Knitting for Good: A guide to creating personal, social and political change, stitch by stitch.

Betsy has a great big long chat with Rayna about her new book, consciousness in the craft world and Paris Hilton.  Yip, Paris Hilton.  You have to listen to hear what that’s about. The three links as discussed in the interview are: d.d.i.y. don’t do it yourself by Lisa Anne Auerbach from the Journal of Aesthetics and Protest. The Story of Stuff The Gas Station Project by Jennifer Marsh And you can win a copy of the book!  Just send the answer to the question in the podcast by March 31 to go in the draw to get your own copy of this gorgeous book. And as always we’d love to hear from you, comment below or drop us a line. And don’t forget to check out the archive if you’re new round here.

The best way to listen to the podcast is to subscribe and download today!

If that doesn’t work (and it might not, we’re still having issues with the plugin that runs these things…) you can download the file directly from here.

We really don’t like advertising very much round these parts, so if you like what you hear, please make a donation to help support future episodes. It’s what an add-free world sounds like.

Hoopla #4 Call For Submissions

Submissions are now open for the 4th issue of Hoopla – the world’s most revolutionary craft zine.

The theme for Issue #4 is MAKEing Love. As always the theme is open to interpretation (you can even ignore it completely) but is based around the idea that craft action is positivist action. It’s about creating the world we want to see as opposed to protesting against the way things are.

Submissions welcome in the form of pictures, patterns and writing or a combination of the three. Also looking for volunteers for proof reading, page layouts and cover design.

Submission deadline March 31. Email here.

Also Hoopla is in need of a promotional flyer. If you’re partial to a bit of design and want to win a copy of all the issues of Hoopla we’re looking for an A5 flyer design. The flyer must contain the following information:

Hoopla: a craft zine for revolutionaries
-patterns
-pictures
-inspiration
-fun

http://radicalcrossstitch.com/hoopla-radical-craft-zine

Other than that it’s totally over to you. The winner will be chosen by the hoopla collective.

Entry deadline March 31.

Look forward to seeing all your entries and submissions!!  And a special big thanks to all those who have already sent some in.  This is looking like a bumper issue!

gorgeous pic from Anna.Lisa

Seriously inspirational art

Photographic artist JR has produced these giant photographic portraits of Kenyan women and used the images to create water resistant roofing materials for Kibera, one of the largest slums in Africa.

Now THIS is good art.  Not only does it provide a useful visual function by literally putting a face to the sprawling slums.  But it provides a useful function by improving the structure of the buildings themselves.

It must be far too easy for the wealthy to avoid the reality of slums.  If you’re not poor you just don’t go anywhere near them.  This installation brings the lives of the poor to the lives of the wealthy in a very clever way, by air.  Of course planes must fly over these areas!

And what’s most effective is the images themselves.  It’s not your stereotypical victimising wide eyed stare.  These are images of vibrant, awesome and empowered women.  It gives lie to the common perception (mostly perpetuated by neocolonial ‘aid’ agencies) that women living in poverty in Africa are passively accepting of the impacts of colonial economics on their lives.  These images (well, to me anyway) show that these women are not only very aware of the causes of the poverty they experience but are also active participants in the saying ‘the whole world’s watching’.  Pertinent given our current economic climate.

I really hope this work gets the attention it truly deserves.

props: Wooster Collective

Another piece of public art that I adored recently, in fact, had me in stitches, pissing my pants maybe?

Sick of men (mostly) pissing in public at night (do you guys know how much your piss stinks come day time? have you heard of disease?) Questionmarc installed these brilliant signs in Nottingham

Needless to say the local council has strenuously denied that it is acceptable to urinate in public.

Genius.

Is that a bird? is that a shoe?

Note: pictures and language in this post would probably fall into the not safe for work category…

One of the great cultural institutions in our suburbs is the shoes thrown over the power lines. Normally the old flung shoe indicates your friendly neighbourhood ganja delaer. Although some of them have been swinging up there for so long now that I don’t know if it’s really too wise to go knocking on the door looking for your healthy dose of herb..

But the glory of swinging from a wire shouldn’t be exclusively reserved for shoes – even if they’ve recently gained a new cultural significance in the world..

One of my best friends had a rather significant life landmark swing by recently so to celebrate she decided to get some buddies together and have a craft off.

This was the result:

Friends

plus sustenance (thanks Casey’s mum!!)

plus craft supplies

equals cunty greatness! (that’s my one with the teeth)

Finally, add some power lines…

Beautiful!  I just wish there was one swinging outside my place!

Thanks lady for an ace fun time, bring on the dirty thirties!

RCS in Wellington!

Announcing my next talk!

I hope to see all our Wellington readers there.  And if anyone wants to come and have a stall selling crafts or homemade food, please get in touch with me asap.

RSVP on Facebook and invite your friends

Being oppressed means the absence of choices

I’m re-reading bell hooks’ Feminist theory: from margin to center right now, hence this small portrait of her. I’m thinking about removing it from the frame & making it into a patch to put on a t-shirt instead (just have to find a suitable tee).

For those of you that don’t know, bell hooks (or Gloria Jean Watkins, which is her real name) is an American writer, feminist & scholar that deals with the relationship between sexism, racism & class. I like they way she challenges the contemporary idea of feminism as a movement & an expression that could mean just anything, depending on who defines it. According to hooks, feminism must be “the struggle to end sexist oppression” & that means that the dominant liberal feminism of today, that doesn’t deal with class issues, can never be real feminism. She is relentless in her assault on white, middle class feminists (hey, that’s me!) & the movements unwillingness to acknowledge & analyze it’s own racism & class issues. But at the same time as she advocates a raging criticism against how white feminists have excluded & marginalized black women or other ethnic groups & made their own strive for equality with privileged white men the goal, she’s very clear on what has to be done: a turn towards companionship, solidarity & bonding between women (a bond that does not have it’s roots in an imagined shared role as “victim” or “oppressed”, but in shared strength & resources). She’s even written a book that is all about love. I’d really recommend reading bell hooks to anyone who’s interested in the ways that sexist, racist & class oppression works together & has to be challenged together.

Cross posted from cross yr stitches.

Clever People Abound

I’ve been finding all sorts of cool, inspiring and useful stuff online over the last day or so, and decided I’d share them.

Firstly, Sayraphim has written this great wee tutorial on how to publicise your exhibition or event. I would call this a must read for anyone putting on an event and wanting some helpful tips on how to get people there. And kudos to Sayraphim for putting this out there. I’ve been rather critical of parts of the Melbourne arts scene recently and it’s mostly because there just isn’t the community based cooperation that exists in the craft communities. I’m a staunch believer that creative communities should be taking a lead in demonstrating how people can work together. So yes, nice to see someone putting some genuinely useful information out into the public sphere!

On the helpful stuff front, I’ve had a few chats with people recently about getting grants for all sorts of things. And I have to recommend OurCommunity as a GREAT website with all sorts of helpful tips on how to write applications and they have lots of databases of grants to apply for.

Just Seeds has got the call out from the UK Anarchist Federation about a publication they’re doing on the intersections between art and anarchism. I know a fair few of you will be interested in this one, I’m sure they’d like as many submissions as possible!

And if you need a bit of inspiration I urge you to check out INCITE! and online journal of experimental and radical aesthetics. Most of it is film based so a fair bit of it went over my head but I still very much appreciate seeing artists get together with a radical analysis. The manifesto section was particularly inspiring!

Finally, if that doesn’t fire you up, this surely will. The Heretics is a new film coming out real soon about the Women’s Art Movement in the 1970s in the US, mostly New York. It’s based around a collective which produced a women’s art journal called Heresies. And the best bit is that they’ve pdf’ed all the old issues and you can download them for free. I downloaded one issue and the contents included words like: radical, anarchist, anti-colonial, revolution, liberation and strategy. How could you go wrong? I’m really looking forward to the film coming out. I’ll try and update progress on this one. In the meantime, get reading!