Dedicated to critical cultural production at the intersection of art and activism.

We cover artists from around the globe whose work explores and realizes social change. Our goal is to provide a narrative about these activist efforts while simultaneously participating in them. Maintained by The Groundswell Collective since 2007.

Subversive Stitching

James David Morgan wrote this post at 9:23 am on May 9th, 2008.

I’ve been waiting for a good reason to offer a roundup of subversive craft work, and this recent bit by Just Seeds collective members is the best I could ask for. We’ve also seen the Grannies Knit for Peace, but today we’re focusing on the Knitta crew, and microRevolt.

knittaKnitta didn’t set out to be activists, but the 11 folks that make up their crew do stage urban interventions that make the world a bit friendlier. Founded by Magda Sayeg in October 2005, the group has grown and gained cred as their woolen graffiti appears in new places. It would be great to see explicitly activist knitters take to the streets the same ways that they have.

microRevoltmicroRevolt might just be the folks to do it. Their projects investigate the dawn of sweatshops in early industrial capitalism to inform the current crisis of global expansion and the feminization of labor. They are the folks that brought you knitPro.

knitPro is a web application that translates digital images into knit, crochet, needlepoint and cross-stitch patterns. Just upload jpeg, gif or png images of whatever you wish — portraits, landscapes, logos… and it will generate the image pattern on a grid sizable for any fiber project. Subvert the corporate logo that nauseates you most with their logoknits – knitted garments bearing the logos of the worst sweatshop labor offenders.

Finally, there’s the awesomely Australian Radical Cross Stitch blog that is home to seriously subversive stitching. And the home of the Melbourne Craft Cartel Market and Podcast.

Know anybody else that’s stitching their way to revolution? Let us know.

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Discuss (3)

yay thanks for the link. People interested in finding more radical stitchers should check out our links list. There’s some goodies in there. Anyone else out there should get in touch with us too. We’re always looking for new friends.
xox

Kakariki,
Thanks for stopping by! We’ll add you to our links, and stop by to say hello every once in a while.

Thanks James! Honoured to be on that awesome list. I started looking at a few of those sites last night and before I knew it, I’d misplaced a few hours of my life.
Yay for inspiring, creative, conscious people!
xox