Sarah Ellen Polley is a Canadian filmmaker, writer, political activist and retired actress. She first garnered attention as a child actress for her role as Ramona Quimby in the television series Ramona, based on Beverly Cleary's books. This subsequently led to her role as Sara Stanley in the Canadian television series Road to Avonlea (1990–1996). She has starred in many feature films, including The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), Exotica (1994), The Sweet Hereafter (1997), Guinevere (1999), Go (1999), The Weight of Water (2000), No Such Thing (2001), My Life Without Me (2003), Dawn of the Dead (2004), Splice (2009), and Mr. Nobody (2009).
Fiber art refers to fine art whose material consists of natural or synthetic fiber and other components, such as fabric or yarn. It focuses on the materials and on the manual labor on the part of the artist as part of the works' significance, and prioritizes aesthetic value over utility.
Tracy-Ann Oberman is an English actress, playwright and narrator. She is known for roles including Chrissie Watts in the BBC soap opera EastEnders and Valerie Lewis or "Auntie Val" in the Channel 4 sitcom Friday Night Dinner (2011–2020).
The Revolutionary Knitting Circle (RKC) is an international activist group that engages in craftivism, focusing on knitting and textile handicrafts to promote social change. Established in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, by Grant Neufeld in 2000. The group uses knitting to contrast with the ideas that protests are violent and the ways in which police handle the protests. The movement has expanded, with groups forming in various regions of the United States and Europe.
Craftivism is a form of activism, typically incorporating elements of anti-capitalism, environmentalism, solidarity, or third-wave feminism, that is centered on practices of craft - or what has traditionally been referred to as "domestic arts". Craftivism includes, but is not limited to, various forms of needlework including yarn-bombing or cross-stitch. Craftivism is a social process of collective empowerment, action, expression and negotiation. In craftivism, engaging in the social and critical discourse around the work is central to its production and dissemination. Practitioners are known as craftivists. The word 'craftivism' is a portmanteau of the words craft and activism.
Lush Retail Ltd. is a British cosmetics retailer which is headquartered in Poole, Dorset, United Kingdom. It was founded in 1995 by trichologist Mark Constantine, his wife Mo Constantine and five other founders.
Rachel Annabelle Riley is a British television presenter. She co-presents the Channel 4 daytime puzzle show Countdown and its comedy spin-off 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown. She is a mathematics graduate.
Yarn bombing is a type of graffiti or street art that employs colourful displays of knitted or crocheted yarn or fibre rather than paint or chalk. It is also called wool bombing, yarn storming, guerrilla knitting, kniffiti, urban knitting, or graffiti knitting.
Jameela Alia Jamil is an English actress, activist and presenter. She began her career on Channel 4, where she hosted a pop culture series in the T4 strand from 2009 until 2012. She then became the radio host of The Official Chart, and co-hosted The Official Chart Update alongside Scott Mills on BBC Radio 1. She was the first regular solo female presenter of the BBC Radio 1 chart show.
Carrie Reichardt is a British artist known for her provocative protest art and collaborative large-scale pieces around systemic injustice and social activism.
Nadezhda Andreyevna "Nadya" Tolokonnikova is a Russian musician, conceptual artist, and political activist. She is a founding member of the feminist group Pussy Riot, and has a history of political activism with the street art group Voina.
Maria "Masha" Vladimirovna Alyokhina is a Russian political activist. She is a member of the anti-Putinist punk rock group Pussy Riot.
Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range from mandate building in a community, petitioning elected officials, running or contributing to a political campaign, preferential patronage of businesses, and demonstrative forms of activism like rallies, street marches, strikes, sit-ins, or hunger strikes.
The Craftivist Collective is "an inclusive group of people committed to using thoughtful, beautiful crafted works to help themselves and encourage others be the positive change they wish to see in the world." It was set up in 2009 by Sarah Corbett. It is based in London.
Cat Mazza is an American textile artist. Her practice combines tactical media, activism, craft-based art making and animation in a form that has frequently been described as craftivism. She is the founder of the craftivist collective microRevolt. Mazza is an associate professor of art at the University of Massachusetts Boston.
Betsy Greer is a writer, editor, maker and speaker credited with popularizing the term Craftivism.
Maud Joachim was a member of the Women's Social and Political Union, one of the groups of suffragettes that fought for women to get the right to vote in the United Kingdom. She was jailed several times for her protests. Joachim was one of the first suffragettes to go on hunger strike when imprisoned, a protest at not being recognised as political prisoners.
Shannon Downey is an American crafter and activist. Downey is recognized as a leader in the field of craftivism, using cross-stitching as an activism tool. Downey serves as director of development at Asian American Advancing Justice and is an adjunct professor at DePaul University and Columbia College.
Laura Kate Dale is an English video game journalist, author and activist. She is known for writing about the transgender and autism communities in relation to video games and for her video game industry leaks. Many of her topics tackle accessibility for disabled players and LGBTQ+ representation.
Gentle protest is an approach to activism which aims to change hearts, minds, policies and laws through thoughtful and compassionate actions. Its intent is to invite reflection and respectful conversation rather than division. It is purposefully non-aggressive in nature.
