Our Project
Craftivism is a portmanteau of craft and activism. It is a sometimes subversive act of engaged creativity that embeds social criticism into traditional cultural expression. The grassroots-oriented Craftivism project builds a toolkit for individuals to independently express their socio-political concerns or to identify and honor their roots in the world.
Project Overview
Not all socially concerned people are comfortable picking up a placard and marching in a protest. Not all messages are best communicated through traditional media, marches, or political messages.
Craftivism offers an alternative to traditional socio-political rhetoric that can engage us in more direct interpersonal communication across generations, cultures or geographic distance. It offers tactile, physical artifacts as subtle, if not subversive, means of exclusive, interpersonal communication.
Individuals who wouldn’t normally engage in traditional forms of activism can find craftivism as meaningful and effective as traditional activism, and engage personal skills, artistic expression and process.
By creating two prototype craftivism experiences connected to politics and feminism, the team was able to evaluate and observe the participants’ interactions, reactions, and perceptions in order to develop a public cookbook for individual craftivism projects. The recipes in this socio-political cookbook enable users to embrace the unique expressive qualities of craft, and the ethos of activism through artifact.
Measurable elements
- Journey mapping the pain and pleasure points of the craftivism creation process
- Usability testing of the RBG Project and Women Who Made Me prototypes
Key Themes
Empowerment
Education & Learning
Community Engagement
Intergenerational connection
Key Themes
Empowerment
Education & Learning
Community Engagement
Intergenerational connection
Project Background
Expressing creativity and creating something that did not exist before is a powerful way to tell the maker’s story. As makers, the members of Team Craftivism inherently understand the calming and empowering effects of crafting.
Craftivist projects empower creators despite differences in personality, mobility, accessibility, and life experience. These creators develop meaningful, innovative, and constructive ways to express their views and experiences as activists.
The craftivism toolkit developed as part of this project serves either those who begin as crafters or activists looking for new ways to inspire change, recognition or understanding. In other words, crafters can use craftivism techniques to become activists, and activists can use craftivism techniques to express themselves in new ways.
Our Process
The process of creating the recipe book involved the deployment of two prototype Craftivism campaigns: the RBG Project 2020 and the Women Who Made Me project.
RBG Project 2020 | Fall Prototype
When Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed in September 2020, the team was inspired to create a craftivism campaign to protest the filling of her Supreme Court seat less than 6-weeks before the presidential election. The RBG Project 2020 was organized by matching a craftivist with each of the 26 sitting female senators.
To each participating craftivist the team provided a kit that contained the materials and instructions necessary to craft a symbolic a dissent collar necklace in the style often worn by Justice Ginsburg and a handwritten letter to a female U.S. Senator expressing the wish to carefully consider the process of her replacement. The kit also included a “Crafterthoughts” booklet with information on the Supreme Court, Justice Ginsburg’s life and quotes, and other activating topics to consider or discuss while working on the project with others.
Whenever possible, senators were matched with a craftivist from their constituency from multiple states. When this was not possible, the gaps were filled with local Muncie mothers and daughters. These mothers and daughters were a part of a socially-distanced group craftivism event where participants created their necklaces in an outdoor space.
The craftivists mailed their necklaces and letters to senators in the lead up to judicial confirmation hearings. This campaign engaged craft on behalf of the activist topics of political fair play, the future of the U.S. Supreme Court, and honoring Justice Ginsburg’s legacy.
Following the craftivism experience, researchers interviewed participants, created a User Journey Map, and conducted a survey to identify and quantify the most pertinent parts of the experience. These findings were used to build a second campaign during the Spring 2021 semester.
When craftivist activities are “supported through extensive use of social media and online communication, [this] provides a gateway to civic expression and engagement” (Markus, 2019).
The Women Who Made Me
The Women Who Made Me Project in Spring 2021 engaged ideas of telling robust stories of women and their legacies in our lives. This project prototype uses powerful visual storytelling about the women who made substantive contributions to the life and development of the craftivists.
This project was designed so that anyone, regardless of skill level, resources, or preferred media, could participate. It also elevates the intergenerational collaboration and communication that was evident in the RBG Project 2020 prototype as well as other craftivism campaigns which were studied.
In creating this prototype, the team developed a set of adaptable guidelines — a recipe — that was tested through the team’s development of prototype projects.
Transmedia Campaign
The craftivist artifacts that result are newly created heirlooms that tell stories through a storytelling quilt and a collection of carefully assembled physical relics. Each artifact is supported by a transmedia storytelling campaign about each object using image recognition, QR code technologies, and social media.
The transmedia campaigns include sharing the maker process on Instagram, an Instagram account that displays the completed projects, and a website that displays the completed projects and acts as a call-to-action for other craftivists to participate.
At the end of the team’s making process, these test results were used to fuel further iterative development of the project recipe book. Lastly, the recipe has been distributed to ten makers working on new, individualized projects.
Transmedia Campaign
The transmedia campaigns include sharing the process of making on Instagram, an Instagram account that shows the complete projects as well as a website that shows not only the completed projects, but acts as a call-to-action for other craftivists to participate in the project.
The recipe has now been distributed to about 10 makers who are working on the project in their own voice and media.
Our Team
With a small team, both members played all roles throughout the project. However, there are particular roles that each member naturally fell into due to experience and strengths.
Molly Schaller
Visual Designer, Lead Writer, Project Manager | EMDD Graduate Student
Lee Haynes
Graphic Designer, Research Lead, IA Strategist | EMDD Graduate Student
Dr. Kevin Moloney
Advisor | EMDD Assistant Professor