Craftivism: our yarns are the tellers of us

Abstract

This narrative enquiry, entitled Craftivism: Our Yarns are the Tellers of Us, is an autoethnographic unthreading of a craftivism facilitator’s story submerged beneath the stitched stories of the collective. The fusing of craft and activism surfaces the invisible into visibility. It is a response to Story Scarves, a craftivism project in which teenage girls fuelled resistance to the inclement ethos of gender-based violence in Soweto, South Africa. Its analysis and critique are from the perspective of the craftivism facilitator receiving traumatically embodied stitched stories that were difficult to hold. This gives context to the Practice as Research which considers the role of the craftivism facilitator while piloting processes and techniques for mindfulness and compassion. The findings, reflections and recommendations emerge from the creative work.