Since I started my Visible Mending Programme, I have met many inspirational people, people who make me think about what I stand for, who ask me questions about my motivations and my beliefs. One such person is Sarah Corbett, founder of the Craftivist Collective.
Sarah and me discussing the finer details of darning as activism
Sarah has been involved in activism since the age of three, and as an introvert, she never felt really comfortable with the confrontational methods of “in-your-face protesting and shouting” activism, and when she had an activism burn-out, she went searching for a different way of tackling prejudice, injustice, corruption and inequality. As a result, she founded the Craftivist Collective in 2009. Sarah has since worked with the likes of Unicef, Secret Cinema, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and Bauhaus University. In collaboration with www.1215.today she launched The School of Gentle Protest two weeks ago. During a six-week curriculum you will learn the art of gentle protest. Each week sees a different visiting professor, and I was invited to talk about Inner Activism in week 2.
If you have concerns about social or political issues, but, like me, you’re not a very outgoing or confrontational person, then you’re sometimes left wondering whether there’s anything you can do in a way that feels more true to who you are. On my Visible Mending journey I have frequently spoken to people like Sarah, or John-Paul Flintoff, and those conversations have made me realise that yes, there is something I can do.
The very act of darning can be very meditative and give you the head space to think about issues that concern you. Whenever I teach a darning workshop, my students often get completely absorbed by the task at hand, and it seems to me that the communal silence gives people a feeling of connection, and we end up talking about all sorts of things: memories triggered by a darning mushroom, the realisation that mending can be fun and creative, and creating an understanding of the societal constructions of fashion and the emotions around repaired clothes. I highly recommend you read this thoughtful blog post by Katie Smith, who already enrolled in the School of Gentle Protest, and did some visible mending.
A darning workshop during Shetland Wool Week 2013
I think the main things I’ve learnt, is that to be actively involved in making a difference to the world you live in, whether your an introvert or an extrovert, is:
- to make sure you’re informed about the issues you worry about
- to be thoughtful
- to do what YOU can do
- to find peace with the fact that you can’t do everything
- to be inspired, and to be an inspiration
If you want to know what else Sarah and I discussed, then please watch our video:
If you feel inspired, then you can still join The School of Gentle Protest here. Meanwhile, if you want to do some homework, then I would like to ask you to do some visible mending, post it on social media, and hashtag it with #visiblemending. This way you can be an inspiration to other visible menders, and find inspiration for your own visible mending project.
tomofholland 
Thanks so much for this post! So much inspiration here. Since the recent US presidential election, many of us crafters and artists have struggled to find the appropriate means of protect. This suits my style perfectly. Now to get started!
I love this. We have a knit in + discuss issues and then plan some actions out of that gathering.
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Thank you for your perspective.
And all you do, its wonderful.
Oh yes! I am a stitcher/maker from the US and following this unfortunate election, your words on inner activism are so welcome. Thank you for explaining a way to go forward in a way that honors the inner being and gently acknowledges the need to protest.