Last Saturday a group of Sydney Nannas met up in Glebe for a Craftivism get-together. Here’s Nanna Elizabeth’s report:
As sun streamed across a table set for afternoon tea and a lounge room of patterns, yarn and pom-poms, nine Nannas (one on Zoom) caught up on personal chat, what is happening on various environmental issues and the plotting of some fun action. The latter included Nanna Louise looking fabulous modelling of one of our creations. (Sorry, there are no photos at this stage as we are planning a surprise reveal.) Other projects underway were shown, discussed and further developed.
Several of the Nannas have only recently joined so this was a good opportunity for them to comfortably get to know other Nannas, ask questions and settle in. Chatting while stitching/crafting or interrupted by “where are the scissors” and “should I make the pom-pom fatter” allows for information, ideas and questions to be shared in a casual way, building learning, creative outcomes and camaraderie. More get-togethers over craft were recommended including knit-ins where the focus is about being a presence rather than ‘an action’, presenting more of a context to share skills and information between ourselves and also passers-by. These could take the form of vigils in the city (probably Martin Place) or sitting outside a relevant office for instance.
There is no need to want to learn or be skilled in yarn craft. You might bring interesting skills or ideas about other arts and crafts and how we use our craft to communicate or you simply might like to be among friends. Most importantly these get-togethers provide a chance for us as individuals to feel supported and build our knowledge and skills.
Image: Shows some of our joint projects and individual efforts on display at our Craftivism Exhibition (see slideshow) in March.